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Book___ 



CICERO'S 



SELECT ORATIONS; 



TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH; 



WITH 



THE ORIGINAL LATIN, FROM THE BEST EDITIONS, 
IN THE OPPOSITE PAGE; 



AND 



NOTES HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY, 



DESIGNED 



Tor the Use of Schools, as well as Private Gent.lemf.st* 



By WILLIAM DUNCAN, 

PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN. 



A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED, 




PRINTED FOR 

VERNOR AND HOOD; J. CUTHELL; WYNNE AND SCHOIEYj 

J. WALKER; OGILVY AND SON; J. MAWMAN; LAC&INGTONj 

ALLEN, AND CO.; J. NUNN, AND R. LEA, LONDON, 

1801, 

By T. Wilson and R. Spence, High-Qusegate, York 



#¥ 



«*»"». 



CICERO'S 



SELECT ORATIONS. 



ft 



CONTENTS. 



- ' g Page. 

i. Oration against ciECiLius, 3 

II. LJ — fortheMANILIANLAW, 43 

HI. , for C. RABIRIUS, 91 

V;- ( against CATILINE, ^ZZ^] 

VII.) (4 — 18 < 

VIII. ^ for L. MUK^lVA, ._„„ _ 20D 

IX. for the Poet ARCHIAS, 2S; 

X. for M. CCELIUS, 3<X 

XL against L.CALPUR PISO, .: 36: 

XII. for T. ANNIUS MILO, 43 

XIII. - for M. MARCELLUS, > 509 

XIV. — > for Q. LIGARIUS, , 529 



TV. 1 I 55 



XVI. y - against M, ANTONY, <2 57 J 



{: 



A4 



C I C E R O'S 



ELECT ORATIONS, 



M. T. CICERONIS 
ORATIONES QUiEDAM SELECTS. 

O RATIO I. 

IN Q^CJiCILIUM*. 



I, QI quis vestrum, Judices, ant eorum qui adsunt, forte mira- 
O tur, me, qui tot annos in causis judiciisque publicis ita 
sim versatus, ut defenderim muitos, la^serim neminem, subito 
nunc m.utata voluntate ad accusandum descendere : is, si mei 
consilii eausam rationemque cognoverit, una et id quod facio 
probabit, et in hac causa profecto neminem pneponendum efse 
mibi actorem putabit. Cum quaestor in Sicilia fuiisem, Judices, 
itaque ex ea provincia deceisifsem, ut Siculis omnibus jucun- 
dam, diuturnamque memoriam quaesturae, nominisque mei re- 
linquerem : factum est, uti cum summum in (") veteribus pa- 
tronis multis, turn nonnuilum etiam in me presidium suis for- 
tunis constitutum else arbitrarentur : qui nunc populati atque 
vexati, cuncti ad me publice saepe venerunt, ut suarum fortuna- 
rutn omnium eausam, defensionemque susciperem ; me saepe 



* The occasion of this oration was as follows: Verres having governed 
Sicily three years with the title of praetor, distinguished himself in that 
employment "by every art of oppression and tyranny. When his command 
was at an end," ail the people of Sicily, those of Syracuse and Mefsina ex- 
cepted, resolved to impeach him upon the law of bribery and corruption, 
and applied to Cicero, who had formerly being questor among them, that 
he would manage the prosecution. Cicero, though he had hitherto em- 
ployed his eloquence only in defence of his friends, yet readily undertook 
the present cause, as it was both just and popular, and gave him 
potunity of displaying his abilities against Bortensius, the only man in 
Rome that could pretend to rival him in the talent of speaking. In the 
mean time, Quint us Caecilius Niger, who had been queftor to Verres, and 
an accomplice with him in' his guilt, claimed a preference to Cicero in the 
task of accusing, and endeavoured to get the cause into his hands in order 
to betray it. He pretended to have received many personal injuries irom 
Verres : "that having been questor under him, he was better acquainted with 
his crimes: and lastly, that being a native of Sicily, he had the belt right 
to prosecute the oppreffor of ids country Cicero refutes these reasons m 
the following oration, which is called Dhinafio, because the procels to 
which it relates was whollv conjectural. For the cause not properly re- 
garding a matter of fact, but the claim and qualifications of the accusers, 



M. T. CICERO'S 

SELECT ORATIONS. 



ORATION I. 



AGAINST -CffiCILIUS. 



Sect. I. TF any upon your bench, my Lords, or in this as- 
JL sembly, should perhaps wonder that I, whose prac- 
tice for so many years, in causes and public trials, has been 
such as to defend many, but attack none ; now suddenly change 
from my wonted manner, and descend to the office* of an ac- 
cuser ; I am apt to think, that upon weighing the grounds and 
reasons of my proceeding, he will not only approve of the step 
I have taken, but own likewise that I deserve the preference to 
all others, in the management of the present prosecution. 
When I had finished my questorship in Sicily, my Lords, and 
was returned from that province, leaving a grateful and lasting 
remembrance of my name and adoiinisjration behind me; it so 
fell out that the Sicilians, as they placed the highest confidence 
in many of their ancient patrons, so dkl they imagine they 
might repose some in me too for the security of their fortunes. 
And being at that time grievously harafsed and opprefsed, they 
frequently came to me in a bocly, publicly soliciting me to un- 
dertake their defence. They put me in mind of my many 



the judges, without the help of witnefses, were to divi?ie, as it were, what 
was fit to be done, This happened in the 37th year of Cicero's age, unci 
the 685th of Rome. The affair was decided in favour of Cicero 

(1) Veteribus patronis midtis "\ The provinces had al! their protectors 
and patrons at Koine, who took care of their interests, and to whprf) they 
applied for a redrefs of grievances. r i he choice in this case commonly tell 
upon the person who had conquered the country, and reduced it into the 
form of a province. This right of patronage descended to his posterity, and 
was considered as an inheritance of the family Sicily had many powerful 
patrons at .-Rome. The family of the Marcelli, spruJ/g from that Marcel? 
Ius, who in the second Punic war conquered S) racuse. The descendants 
of >Jcipio Africanus, who after the destruction of Carthage, carried back in 
triumph to Sicily all the ornaments of which the Carthaginians had robbed 
that island. Lastly, the Metelli, two of whom, viz Metelius Celer, 
and Metelius Nepos, impeached Marcus Lepidus on account of his mis- 
conduct when praetor in that province. 



4 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

else pollicitum, sccpe ostendifse dicebant, si quod tempus accw 
difset, quo tempore aliquid a me requirerent, commodis eorum ? 
ine non*defuturum. Venice tempus aibant, non jam ut com- 
xnoda sua, sed ut vitam, salutemque totius provincial defen- 
dferem : sese jam ne deos quidem in suis urbibus, ad quos con- 
fugerent, habere * quod eorum simulacra sanctifsima, C. Verres 
ex delubris reiigiosifsimis sustuliiset: quas res luxuries in 
fiagltiis, crudelitas in suppliciis, avaritia in rapinis, superbia 
in coiitumeliis efficere potuifset, eas omnes sese hoc uno praR- 
tore ( 2 ) per trienniurn psrtulifse: rogare et orare, ne illos sup- 
plices aspernarer, quos^ me incoiumi, nemini supplices efse. 
ogqjrteret, 

II. Tuli graviter et acerbe, Judices, in eum me locum ad- 
ductum, ut aut eos homines spes falleret, qui opem a, me atque 
anxiiium petiifsent, aut ego, qui me ad defendendos homines ab 
ineunte adolescents dsdifsem, tempore atque officio coactus 
( 3 ) ad accusandum traducerer. Dicebam habere eos actorem 
Q, Cscilium, qui prsesertim qiuestor in eadein provincia post 
me qussstorem. ruifset. Quo ego adjumento sperabambanc a me. 
molestiam pofse dimoveri, id mihi erat adversarium maxime: 
nam illi multo niihi hoc facilius remisifsent, si istum non nos- 
sent, aut si iste apud eos quoestor non fuifset. Adductus sum, 
Judices, officio, tide, misericqrdia, multorum bonorum exemplq 
veteri consuetudine, institutoque majorum, ut onus hoc laboris 
atque ouicii, non ex meo, sed ex meorum necefsariorum tem- 
pore mihi suscipiendum putarem. Quo in negotio tamen ilia, 
me res, Judices, consolatur, quod haec, quse videtur else ac- 
cusatio mea, non potius accusatio quam defensio est existimanda, 
Defendo enim multos mortales, multas ciyitates, provinciam 
Sicilian! totam. Quamobrem si mihi unus est accusandus, 
propemodum manere instituto meo videor, et non omnino a de- 
lendendis-honnnibus, sqblevandisque discedere. Quod si banc 
causam tarn idoneam, tarn illustreni, tarn gravem non haberem"; 



(2) Per iriennium.'] Though the provincial governors continued regi . 
in office but one year, yet many accidents might prolong the time of their 
command. Arrfus had been appointed to succeed Verres, but dying be- 



ial governors continued regularly 
> might prolong the time oftheii 
- .o succeed Verres, but dying be- 
fore he reached Sicily, the other was continued in office two years" lorio-er. 
(3) Ad accusaudum trfduoerer.l Cicero had hitherto confined himself only 
to the defence of his friends and clients, which was extremely popular at 
Koine; whtreas the contrary task of accusing was no lefs odious. He 
therefore thinks himself obliged in the beginning of his speech to give some 
reasons for this setting change in his conduct." He observes, that the 
cause he was now engaged in, though in appearance an accusation, was in 
reality a defence: That he impeached .only one man, but defended a 
•whole people: And that he could not have declined taking part in th6 
present trial, but by renouncing all his engagements with the Sicilians! 






CICERO'S ORATIONS. 5 

promises and declarations," not to be wanting to them in offices 
of friendship, when time or necefsity should require. The 
time, they told me, was now come, when not only their for- 
tunes, but the very being and safety Of the whole province was 
at stake: That they had not even their gods to fly to for pro- 
tection ; of whose sacred images, their cities, and most august 
temples had been rifled by the impiety of Verres : That what- 
ever luxury in voluptuousnefs,_cruelty in punishing, avarice! in 
extortion, or insolence in oppression > could devise to torment a 
people, had by this one praetor, during the space of three 
years, been inflicted upon them: That they therefore requested 
and conjured me not to disregard their supplications, since, 
while I was safe, they ought to become suppliants to none, 

Sect. II. It was with indignation artd concern, my Lords, 
that I saw myself reduced to the necefsity, either of disappoint- 
ing those who applied to me for relief and afsistance, or under- 
taking the disagreeable task of an accuser, after having em- 
ployed myself from my earliest youth in defending the opprefsed. 
1 told them they might have recourse to Q. Gecilius, who 
seemed the fitter person to manage their cause, as he had been 
questor after me iri the same province. But the very argument 
by which I hoped to extricate myself from this difficulty, 
proved a principal obstruction to my design : For they would 
much more readily have agreed to my proposal, had they not 
known Caecilius, or had he never exercised the office of questor 
among them. I was therefore prevailed upon, my Lords, from 
a consideration of my duty, my engagements, the compafsion 
due to distrefs, the examples of many worthy men, the institu- 
■ tions of former times, and the practice or our ancestors, to 
charge myself with a part in which I have not consulted my 
own inclinations, but the necefsities of my friends. It is some 
■comfort however, my Lords, that my present pleadings cannot 
so properly be accounted an accusation, as a defence. For I 
defend a multitude of men, a number of cities, and the whole 
province of Sicily. If, therefore, I am under a necefsity of ar- 
raigning one, I still seem to act agreeably to my former cha- 
racter, without deviating from the patronage and defence of 
mankind. But granting 1 could not produce such powerful, 
weighty, and urgent reasons ; granting the Sicilians had not 
solicited me to undertake their cause ; or that my connection 



a very invidious office at Rome, yet the impeaching and ^ringing to justice 
a corrupt magistrate, was ever accounted honourable, and had frequently 
been undertaken by men of the most distinguished characters in the state. 
Nay, one of Cicero's principal motives in charging himself with this trial 
was, to recommend himself to the favour of tha people, and facilitate his 
views of advancement. 



£ M. T. CICERONI? ORATIONES. 

si ant hoc I me Siculi non petiifsent, aut mihi cum Siculis causa 
taimc necefsitudinis non intercederet, et hoc, quod facio, me 
reipub. causa facere profiterer, ut homo singulari cupiditate, 
audacia, scelere praxiitus, cujus furta at que fiagitia non in Sicilia 
solum, ( 4 ) sed Achaia, Asia, Cilicia, Parirphylia, Romse denique 
ante ocuios omnium maxima turpifsimaque noisemus, m& 
agente in judicium vocaretur : quis tandem efset, qui meuni 
factum aut consilium pofset reprehendere ? 

III. Quid est, pro Beum hominumque fidem ! in quo ego 
reip. plus hoc tempore prodefse pofsim ? Quid est, quod aut 
populo Rom. gratius efse debeat? aut sociis, exterisque na- 
tionibus optatius efse pofsit, aut saluti, fortunisque omnium ma- 
gisa accommodatum sit ? Populatse, vexatae, funditus eversa pro- 
vincise: socii, stipendiariique populi Romani afflicti miseri, jam 
non salutis spem, sed exitii solatium quaerunt (s) Quijudicia 
nianere apud ordinem Senatorium volunt, queruntur accusatores 
se idoneos non habere, qui accusare poisunt, judiciorum severi- 
tatemdesiderant. Popuius Rom. interea, tametsi multis incom- 
inodis, diihcultatibusque attectus est,tamen nihil asque in repub. 
atque illam veterem judiciorum vim, gravitatemque requirit. 
Judiciorum desiderio, tribunitia potestas efflagitata est : judici- 
orum levitate, ordo quoque alius ad res judicandas postulatur. 
Judicum culpa atque dedecore ( 6 ) etiam censorium nomen, quod 
asperius antea populo videri solebat, id nunc poscitur : id jam 
populare, atque plausibiie factum est. In hac hbidine hominum 
nocentifsimorum, in populi Rom. quotidiana, querimonia, ju- 
diciorum infamia, totius ordinis ofFensione, cum hoc unum his 



(4) Sed in Achaia, Asia, &c] Verres bad been lieutenant to Dclabella, 
proconsul of Cilicia; where, as well as in the other provinces here men- 
tioned, he rendered himself odious to the inhabitants by his avarice, 
cruelty, and reiterated opprefsions. Nor was he lefs infamous at Rome; 
having exereised the office of pra?tor in that city, and by his venal ad- 
ministration incurred the general hatred of the people. 

(5) Qui judicia manere apud ordinem Senator ium.~\ Caius Gracchus had 
pafsed a law, by which the administration of justice was vested in the or- 
der of knights. This privilege they enjoyed with great reputation, till 
Sylla having made himself master of the republic, transferred it from the 
knights to the senators, with whom it remained at this time. But as these 
last did not execute this great trust, with the integrity and impartiality 
that might have been expected, the people were impatient to see it re- 
stored to the equestrian order. For the same reason they were very de- 
sirous that the tribunitian power might recover its former vigour, which 
had always been a great check upon the nobles, till the before mentioned 
usurpation of Sylla, who, in favour of his own order, considerably re- 
trenched the authority of that office. 

(6) Etiam censorium nomen."] The censors were created every fifth year, 
to watch over the manners and discipline of the state. They had power to 
punish immorality in any person, of what order soever. The senators they 
might expel the bouse; which was done by omitting such a person, wheu 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 7 

with thorn bad not laid me under any obligations to comply ; 
fend that in this whole affair L should profefs no other motive 
[than the view of serving my country, and of bringing to justice 
a man, infamous for avarice, insolence, and viilany ; whose 
robberies and crimes have not been confined to Sicily alone, but 
are likewise notorious over all Achaia, Asia, Ciiiciit, PamphyJia; 
in fine, at Rome, before the eyes of all men ; who, I desire to 
know, could object either to my conduct or intentions? 

Sect. III. Immortal Gods! What nobler service can I at this 
time render the commonwealth? What can. I undertake more 
grateful to the people of Rome*, more desirable to our allies and 
foreign nations, or more calculated for the safety and advantage 
qf mankind in general ? The provinces are plundered, harafsed, 
and utterly ruined. The allies and tributaries of the Roman 
people, overwhelmed with anguish and affliction, despair now 
of redrefs, and only solicit an alleviation of their calamities. 
They who are for having the administration of justice continue 
In the hands of the senators, complain of the insufficiency of 
accusers. And they who are capable of acting as- accusers, 
complain of the remifsnefs of the judges. In the mean time the 
Roman people, though labouring under many hardships and 
difficulties, desire nothing so much as the revival of the ancient 
force and rirrnnefs of public trials. Through their impatience 
for a vigorous administration of justice, they have extorted the 
restoration of the tribunitian power. From the contempt into 
which our tribunals are fallen, another order is demanded for 
the decision of causes. The infamy and corruption of the 
judges have occasioned a desire to see the censorship re- 
established ; an office, which, though formerly accounted se- 
vere, is now become popular and agreeable. Amidst these ex- 
orbitant opprefsions of guilty men, amidst the daily complaints 
of the Roman people, the infamy of 'our tribunals, and the 
odium conceived against the whole order of Senators, as there 



they called over the names. The knights they punished, by taking away 
the horse allowed them at the public charge The commons they might 
either remove from a higher tribe to a ieis honourable; or quite disable 
■them to give their votes in the afsemblies; or set a fine upon them, to be 
paid to the treasury. At the end of the fifth year they took an exact sui> 
vey of the people concluding the whole with" a solemn lustration, or ex- 
piatory sacrifice. The sacrifice consisted of a sow, a sheep, and a bull'; 
whence it took the name of Sudvetaurilia. The ceremony of performing 
it, they called Lustrum coudcre ; and upon this account, the space of five 
years came to be signified by the word Lustrum. r \ Ins office, though use- 
ful and necefsary, was yet very odious in a free state; and for that rea- 
son had been discontinued several 3 ears. .But now corruption, espe- 
cially in courts of justice, was come to such a height, that the people them- 
selves were desirous of reviving it. 



t Mi T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

tot incommodis remedium efse arbitrarer, ut homines idonei at- 
que integri causam reipub. legumque susciperent: fateor me 
salutis omnium caus& ad earn partem accefsifse reipubl. suble- 
tandae, quae maxime laboraret. Nunc quoniam quibus rebus 
atiductus ad causam accefserim demonstravi, dicendum ncces- 
sario est de' contentiorte nostra, ut in constituendo accusatore, 
quid sequi pofsitis, babeatis. Ego sic intel'igo, Judices, ( 7 ) ciim 
de pecuniis repetundis nomen cujuspiam deferatur, si certamen 
inter aliquos git, cui potifsimum delatio detur, haec duo in primis 
spectari oportere : queni maxime velint actorem efse ii, quibus 
facta? efse dicantur injurias; et quern minime velit is, qui eas 
injurias fecifse arguatur. 

IV. In hac causa Judices, tametsi utrumque efse arbitror 
perspicuum ; tamen de utroque dicam, et de eo prius, quod apud 
Vos plurimum debet valere, hoc est, de voluntate eorum, quibus 
injurias factae sunt : quorum causa judicium de pecuniis repetun- 
dis es constitutum. Sicilian! provinciam C. Verres per triennium 
depopulatus efse, Siculorum civitates vastafse, domos exinanifse, 
fana spoliafse dicitur. Adsunt, queruntur Siculi universi : ad 
meam fidem, quam habent spectatam jam et diu cognitam, con- 
fugiunt : auxilium sibi per me a vobis, atque a populo Romano 
legibus petunt : me defensorem calamitatem suarum, me ultoreoi 
injuriarum, me cognitorem juris sui, me actorem causae totius 
efse voluerunt. Utrum, Q. Caeeili ! hoc dices, me non Siculorum 
rogatu ad causam accedere ? an optimorum tidelifsimorumque 
soGiorum voluntatem apud hosgravem efse non oportere? Si id 
audebis dicere, quod C. Verres, cui te inimicuiu efse simulas, 
maxime existimari vtilt, Siculos hoc a me non petiilse ; primum 
causam inimici tui sublevabis, ( 8 ) de quo non praejudicium, sed 
plane judicium jam factum putatur: quod ita percrebuit, 
Siculos omneis actorem suae causae contra illius injurias qua5- 
sitfse. Hoc, si tu inimicus ejus factum negabts quod ipse, 
cui maxime haec res obstat, negare non audet ; videto, ne 
nimium famiiiariter inimicitias exercere videare. Deinde sunt 
testes viri clarifsimi nostrae civitatis, quos omneis a me nominari 



(7) Ciim de pecuniis repetundis.'] Crimen repetundarum was, where a 
charge of extortion was brought against any magistrate ; so called because 
the prosecutor sued him in an action of damages, pecunias ereptas repetebat. 

(8) De quo non preejudicium, sed plane judicium.'] This palsage carries a 
good deal of difficulty in it. Pnejudicium signifies a previous judgment, 
or a sentence pronounced upon one part of the trial, which might serve as 
a precedent to direct the decision of the whole. Judiciwn again denotes 
the ifsue and final determination of the businefs. The orator's meaning 
seems to be, that there was not only a strong presumption of what he herei 
advances, but that the matter was so notorious, as not to be in the least | 
doujted of by the public. 6 



.appeared no other remedy for these evils, but for men of ability 
and integrity to undertake the defence of the commonwealth 
and the laws. I own I was prevailed upon, out of regard to 
the common safety, to endeavour at relieving the republic, in 
that part where she seemed most to stand in need of help. 
And now that I have laid before you the reasons by which I 
was determined to appear in this cause, it remains tluit I speak 
to the point under debate, that in the choice of an accuser you 
may the better see whereon t© ground your judgment, I appre- 
hend, my Lords, when an information is brought against any one 
for extortion, if a dispute arises about the person most proper to 
act as iinpeacher, that these two things are of principal moment ; 
whom the parties aggrieved chiefly desire to have the manage- 
ment of their cause; and whom the person accused dreads 
most in that capacity. 

S$ct. IV. Though I think both these points, my Lords, suf- 
ficiently clear in the present cause, yet I shall speak particularly 
to each of them : And first, of that which ought to have the 
principal sway in this debate; I mean, the inclination of the suf- 
fering parties, for whose sake the present trial was granted. 
■C. Verres is charged with having for three }^ears plundered the 
province of Sicily, rifled the .cities, stripped the private bowses, 
and pillaged the temples. The Sicilians in a body are present, 
to offer their complaints. They fly to my protection, of which 
already tliey have had long and ample experience. By me they 
solicit redrefs from this court, and from the laws of the lioman 
people. They have chosen me as their refuge against oppres- 
sion, as the revenger of their wrongs, the patron of thejr rights, 
and the sole manager of the present impeachment.. Will you, 
Ca^cilius, pretend, either that the Sicilians have not importuned 
me to undertake their cause, or that the inclinations of our best 
and most faithful allies ought not to weigh with those who com- 
pose this court? If you dare afsert what Verres, to whom you 
profefs yourself an enemy., desires above all things should, be 
believed, that the Sicilians have not applied to me in this case ; 
you will thereby do a service to the cause of your enemy, 
against whom not a presumptive sentence only, but an absolute 
judgment is already supposed to be given, from the notoriety 
that the Sicilians have unanimously demanded an advocate for 
their rights againft his opprelsions. If you, his enemy, dispute 
this fact, which he himself, though it makes directly against 
him, has not the face to deny, beware that you are not sus- 
pected of pushing your resentment with too gentle a hand. Be- » 
sides, several of the most illustrious men of the commonwealth, 
all whose ttames it were needlefs to repeat, can witnefs the con- 
trary. I shall mention only such as are present, whom I would 



10 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

non est necefse: eos qui adsunt, appellabo, quos, si tnentirer, 
testeis efse impudentiae meae minime veilem. Scit is, qui est in 
consilio, C. Marcellus: scit is, quern adefse video, Cn. Lentulus 
Marcellinus : quorum fide, atque praesidio Siculi maxime nitun- 
tur, quda omnind Marcellorum nomini tota ilia provincia ad- 
juncta est. Hi sciunt, hoc non modo a me petit am efse, sed 
ita saepe, et ita vehementer efse petitum, ut aut causa mihi sus^ 
cpienda fuerit, aut omcium necefsitudinis repudiandum. Sed 
quid ego his testibus utor, quasi res dubia, aut obscura sit ? Ad- 
sunt homines ex tota provincia nobilifsimi, qui praesentcs vos 
orant, atque obsecrant, judices, ut in actore causae suae dili- 
gendo, vestrum judicium a suo judicio ne discreper. Omnium 
civitatum totius Sicilke legatidnes adsunt, ( 9 ) praeter duas civi- 
tates: quarum duarum, si adefsent, duo crimina vol maxima 
minuerentur, quae cum his civitatibus C. Verri communicata sunt. 
At enim cur a me potifsimum hoc praesidium petiverunt ? Si efset 
dubium, petifsent a, me proesidium nec-ne* dicerem cur peti- 
ifsent. Nunc verdcum id ita perspicuum sit, ut oculis judicare 
pofsitis* nescio cur hoc mihi deinmento efse debeat, si id mihi 
objiciatur, me potifsimum efse dclectum. Verum id mihi non 
sumo, judices, et hoc non modo in oratione mea non pono, sed 
ne in opinionc quidem cujusquam relinquo, me omnibus patro- 
nis efse prajpositum. Non ita est, sed uniuscujusque tempore, 
valetudinis, facultatis ad agendum, ducta ratio est. Mea fuit 
semper ha:c in hac re voluntas et sententia, quemvis ut hoc 
mallem de iis, qui efsent idonei, suoipere, qunm me: me, ut 
mallem, quam neminem. 

V. Reliquum est jam, ut illud quar-unus, cum hoc constct, 
Siculos a me petiifse, ecquid banc rem apud vos, animosque 
vestros velere oporteat: ecquid auctoritatis apucl vos in suo jure 
repetundo socii populi Rom. suppliers vestri habere debe 
De quo quid ego plura eommemorem ? quasi vero dubium *it, 
quin tota lex d'e pecuniis repetundis sociorum can una 

sit. Nam civibus cum sunt creptae pecunue, civili n re art. 
et pi'ivato jure repetuntur. Hac lex soeialis est: hoc jus nutio- 



(9) Prccfcr duas civitalcs."] The two cities here meant, are %\ racUse and 
Mefsana ; for these being the most considerable of the proviare.VwTei had 
taken care to keep up a fair correspondence with them. Syracuse was 
the place of his residence, and Mefsana the repository of his plunder, 
whence he exported it all to Italy : And though he would treat even these at 
times very arbitarily, yet in some flagrant instances of his rapine, that he 
might ease himself of a'part of the envy, he used to oblige them with a (hare 
of the spoil: So that partly by fear, and partly by favour, he held them ge- 
nerally at his devotion; and at the expiration of his government, procured 
ample testimonials from them both, in praise of his administration. All 
the other towns were zealous and active in the prosecution, and by a com- 
mon petition to Cicero, implored him to undertake the management of it. 



11 

be very far from having the afsurance to appeal to, were I con- 
scious of advancing a falsehood. C Marcellus, who sits upon 
the bench, knows the truth of what I afsert. Cn. Lentulus Mar- 
celinus, whom I see in court, can likewise teftify the same thing: 
Two persons, on whose protection and patronage the Sicilians 
have a principal dependence ; that whole province being in a 
particular manner attached to the name of the Marcelli. These 
know, that I have been not only importuned to undertake this 
affair, but so frequently, and with so much earneltneis, that I 
was under a necefsity of either charging myself with the cause, 
or renouncing the ties of relation between us. But what need 
after all of appealing to witnefses, as if the thing was doubtful or 
obscure ? Men of the greatest quality in the whole province are 
here prosent, my Lords, who personally requeft and conjure 
you, that in appointing one to prosecute their cause, your sen- 
timents may not be different from theirs. Commifsioners ap- 
pear from every city in Sicily, except two; whose deputies, if 
present, would considerably weaken the force of two principal 
branches of the accusation, in which these cities were accompli- 
ces with Verres. But why do they apply chiefly to me for 
protection? If the fact itself was doubtful, I might perhaps ex- 
plain the reasons of this application. But as it is a case so 
evident that you may judge of it by what you see, I know no 
reason why an objection from my being chosen preferable to 
all others ought to affect me. But, my Lords, I arrogate no 
such distinction to myself, and am so far from claiming it in 
what I now offer to your consideration, that I should be sorry 
if it entered into the imagination of any person Avhatsoever, 
that I was preferred to all other patrons. It is by no means so : 
But regard is had to every one's circumstances, health, and 
abilities. My inclinations and sentiments always were, that any 
one capable of managing the cause should undertake it rather 
than myself, but myself rather than none. 

Sect. V. Since then it is evident, that the Sicilians have be- 
sought me to charge myself with their defence; it now re- 
mains that we inquire, whether this ought to have any in- 
fluence in the present debate ; whether the allies of the Roman 
people, applying in a suppliant manner for a redrefs of grievan- 
ces, ought not to have great weight in swaying your deter- 
minations? But why do I dwell upon this subject? as if it was 
not apparent that the whole system of laws relating to extortion 
were established for the sake of the allies alone. When citizens 
defraud one another, they may have recourse to a civil action, 
and the municipal laws of the state. This law is wholly social ; 
it is the peculiar right of foreign nations: They have this for- 
trefs, somewhat weakened indeed, and leis able to protect them 

B2 



12 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

rmm exterarum est : hanc habent arcem minus aliquanto nunc 
qui dem munitam, quam antea :- verum tamen, siqua reliqua spes 
est, quae sociorum animos ponsolari pofsit, ea tota in hac lege 
posita est: cujus legis non niodo a populo Romano, sed etiam 
ab ultimis nationibus jampridem severi custo,des requiruntur. 
Quis igitur est, qui neget oportere eorum arbitratu lege am, 
quorum causa lex sit constituta? Sicilia tota, si una voce lo- 
queretur, hoc diceret : Quod auri, quod argenti, quod ornamen- 
torum in meis urbibus, sedibus, delubjis fuit, quod in unaquaque 
re beneficio SenatCis populique Romani juris habui, id mihi tu^ 
C. Verres, eripuisti, atque abstulisti: quo nomine abs te ses- 
tertium millies ex lege repeto( 10 ). Si universa, ut dixi, pro- 
yincia loqui pofset, hac voce uteretur. Quoniam id non poter 
rat, harum rerum auctorem, quern idoneum efse arbitrata est, 
ipsa delegit. In hujusmodi re quisquam tarn impudens re- 
perietur, qui ad alienam causam, invitis iis, quorum negotium 
est, accedere aut aspirare kudeat? 

VI. Si tibi, Q,. Csecili, hoc Siciili dicerent ; Te non novimus 
Tiescimus quis sis : nunquam te antea vidimus : sine nos per eum 
nostras fortunas defendere, cujus fides est notns cognita : Non-ne 
id dicerent, quqd cuivis prqbare deberent? Nunc hoc dicunt: 
iitrumque se nofse : alteram se cupere defensorem efsefortunarum 
suarum: alterum plane nolle. Cur nolint, etiamsi taceant, satis 
dicunt : verum non tacent ; tamen his invitifsimis te orTerres ? 
tamen m aliena causa loquere? tamen eos defendes, qui se ab 

(10) Sester -Hum millies ex leges rcpeto.~\ It \vill be proper hereto give 
the reader such a general notion of the Eoman coins, and their maimer 
of computing, as may enable him to form a judgment of the several sum^ 
that frequently occur in this work. The Romans reckoned their money 
by dss\ afses, sestertii or nwnmi, denarii, solidi or aurei, pcnJj or /: 
The ces of as, was so named as being of brafs, and at first consisted of a 
pound weight; but was in time reduced to two ounces, then to one 
ounce, and at last to half an ounce. Its parts were, the semis, or half 
<e$ ; the trie/is or third part of the ces; the quadrans, or fourth part, by some 
called triuncis and teruncius, because it contained three ounces, before 
• the value was diminished ; the sextans or sixth part, which made two oun- 
ces; and lastly, the uncia, or twelfth part, making one ounce. They had 
likewise names for any other number of ounces under twelve; as the quin- 
cunx, septunx, bes, dodrans, &c. The sestertius so called quasi sesqui-tertius, 
because it made two ajses and an half, was the fourth part of the de- 
narius, in value about twopence of our money. It is often called abso- 
lutely nummus, because it was in most frequent use, as also sestertius nunnnus. 
When the word is used in the neuter gender sestertium, it denotes always 
a thousand sestertii. The denarius was t!)e chief silver coin in use anion* 
the Romans, so called because it contained denos cvris, ten afses; it was 
equivalent to four sestertii, or about eigiitpence of our money. The solidus 
or aureus, was a gold coin, equal in value to two denarii. The as, because 
first it was a pound weight, is often thus exprefsed L. And the sestertius, be- 
cause it wag CquivalenUo two pounds of brafs and an half, thus ll^ : oj LLS 



Cicero's orations. 13 

than formerly ; yet still, if any hope remains, to cheer the hearts 
of our allies j it is wholly founded on this law ; a law which not 
only the people of Rome, but the remotest nations, long to see 
under the care of rigorous guardians. Who then can deny 
that a law ought to take its course according to the inclination 
of those "in 'favour of whom it was enacted } > Could all the 
people of Sicily speak with one voice, they would say, You 
"Verres, have robbed and plundered us of all the gold, silver, 
and ornaments, that were in tfur cities, houses, or temples; 
you have violated every privilege we enjoyed by the friendship 
of the senate and people of Rome ; and on that account we have 
brought an action against you, of an hundred millions of sester- 
ces. I say, could the whole province speak with one tongue, 
this would be its language. But, as that is impofsible, they have 
made choice of such an advocate as they thought best for their 
purpose. Shall any one, therefore, in an affair of this kind, have 
the afsurance to thrust himself into another's cause, contrary to 
the inclination of those who are immediately concerned? 

Sect. VI. Should the Sicilians speak thus to you, Caecilius : 
We know you not; we are strangers to your character; we 
never saw you before ; suffer us to commit the defence of our 
fortunes to a man whose integrity Ave have experienced : Would 
they not say what all the world must approve ? Now they even 
tell you, that they know us both; that they exprefsly desire the 
one for their advocate, and will have nothing to do with the 
other. Were they silent as to the reasons of this refusal, it 
would be no hard matter to divine them: But they are by no 
means silent. Will you then force yourself upon them, against 

The sums in use among the Romans were chiefly three; the sestertium, 
the libra, and the talent. The sestertium, as we have already observed, 
Was equivalent to a thousand sestertii, about eight pounds of our money. 
In reckoning by sesterces, the Romans had an art, which may be under- 
stood by these three rules: The first is, if a numeral noun agree in^case, 
gender, and number with sestertius, then it denotes precifely so many ses- 
tertii, as deCem sestertii, just so many. Tbe second is this, if a numeral 
noun of another case be joined with the genitive r>hu%\x)f sestertius, it de- 
note so many thousand, as decern sestertium, signifies ten thousand sestertii. 
Lastly, if the adverb numeral be joined, it denotes so many hundred thou- 
sand, as decies sestertium signifies ten hundred thousand sestertii; or, if 
the numeral verb be put by itself, the signification is the same; decies or 
vzgesies stand for so many hundred thousand sestertii, or so many hundred 
scstertia. This will help us to discover 'the sum here mentioned by Cicero. 
For, according to the last of these rules, millies sestertium signifies a thou*. 
sand times a hundred thousand sestertii, or a hundred thousand sestertia; 
And as the sestertium was nearly equal to eight pounds of our money, the 
whole sum amounts to about eight hundred 'thousand pounds The libra, 
or pound, contained twelve ounces of silver, and was worth three pounds 
of our money. The third sum was the talent, which contained twenty-four 
sestertia, amounting nearlv to an hundred and ninety-two pounds, 

B3 









! j. M. T. CICERONI* ORATIONES. 

omnibus descikpspptius, quam abs te defenses efse malunt ? ta- 
liien his opcram tuam pbllieebere, qui te neque vcllc sua, causa, 

i cupias, ppfse arbitranlur^ cur eorum speni exiguanr re- 
liquartun foriunarum, quam babent in legijs ejt judicii severitate 
posium, yi e^tgrqiicre cbna/cis? cur te interponis, inyitilsimis 

ttibus maxinic lex cousultum else vult? cur de quibus in 
proviheia non optimt' cs meritus, eos nunc plane fortunis 6m- 
hibus conaris evert/ere? cur bis non modo pcrsequendi juris 
siii, scd rtiiun cjeploranda? calamitatis adhnis pqtestatemr Nam, 
n actore, quern eor.um aiVuturuni putas, quos intelligis, non, ut 

alnun, scd ut per aliquem teipsuni ulciscantur, laborare? 

Vll. At ciiini solum id est, ut me Sieuli maxime velint: al- 
terum illud credo obscurum est, a quo Verrcsminime se accusari 
vi lit. Kcquis unquam tain palam de bonore,. tarn vehementer 
lute sua contendit, quam illc, atque illius amiei, ut ne haec 
mibi dclatio detur? sunt multa qua) Verres in me else arbitra- 
tur, quae seit in te, Q. Caeeih, non efse: qua; cujusmodi in utro- 
(jue nostrum sint, pauio post commemorabo. Nunc tantum id 
dieam, quod tacitus tu mihi afsentiare, nullam rem in me efse, 
quam ille contemnat: nullam in te quam pertimescat. ( u ) Ita- 
que magnus ille defensor, et amicus ejus, tibi Hortensius suflra- 
gatur, me oppugnat: aperte ab judicibus petit, ut tu mibi 
antcponare : et ait boc se honeste sine ulla invidia, ac sine ulla 
odensione contendere. Non enim, inquit, illud peto, quod 
soleo, cum vebementius contendi, impetrarer ; eus ut absolvatur, 
non peto : scd, ut ab boc potius quam ab illo accusetur, id peto. 
Da mibi boc: concede, quod facile est, quod bonestum, quod 
non invidiosum : quod cum dederis, sine ullo- tu periculo, sine 
infamia illud dederis, ut is absolvatur, cujus ego causa laboro. PJt 
ait idem,ut aliquis metus adjunctus sit ad gratiam, certos efse in 
consilio, quibus ostendi tabellas velit : id efse perfacile ; non enim 
singulos ferre sententias, sed universos constituere: ( ,2 )ceratam 

(11) Itaque maguus ille defensor, et amicus ejus, tibi Hortensius. ~\ Hor- 
tensitw was a pleader of distinguished abilities, and had acquired great re- 
putation in the Forum, when Cicero first made his appearance as an, 
orator. r J hese two long rivalled each other; but Hortensius having first 
run through the career of public honours, began to slacken a little his ef- 
forts; while Cicero, on the other hands redoubling his, obtained at last, by 
the general suffrage of the city, the palm of eloquence. We have here a 
representation of Ilortens-ius's manner of pleading, who. seems not to have 
been over scrupulous in point of equity, thinking all means lawful by which 
be could bring off his ejjejpt. But doubtiefs we are to view the picture 
with some grains of allowance, as it comes from the hand of an adversary 
and a rival. 

(12) Ceratam vnicuique tahelhm, SCc.~\ This alludes to the manner of 
giving judgment among the Romans. The judges had each a tablet cover- 
ed With wax, upon which they wrote the letter A, if they meant to acquit ; 



CICERO'S ORATIONS* 15 

their inclination ? Will you speak in a cause in which jou have 
no concern? Will you charge yourself with the defence of 
those, who choose rather to see themselves abandoned by all the 
world, than trust their defence in your hands? Will you engage 
to protect a people, who are persuaded you have neither inclina- 
tion nor power to serve them ? Why would you deprive them of 
the small hopes of relief they have still left, in the equity of the 
laws and judges? Why would you interpose, in opposition to 
the will of those, for whose benefit the law was chiefly designed ? 
Why do you aim at entirely subverting the fortunes of a people, 
to whom" you have rendered yourself so very obnoxious in the 
province?" Why are you for divesting them of the power, not 
only of prosecuting their rights, but even of deploring their mis- 
fortunes? For which of them, do you imagine, would attend 
the trial under your management, when you know they are la- 
bouring, not to" punish another by your help, but, by means of 
another, to avenge the wrongs they have received from you? 

Sect: VII. But this proves only, that the Sicilians chiefly de- 
sire me for their advocate. The other point, whom Verres most 
dreads in the capacity of accuser, may, perhaps, be thought ob- 
scure. Did ever man struggle more earnestly in a cause where 
both his honour and life are concerned, than he and his friends, 
to have my service set aside in the present trial? There are 
many things Verres imagines in me, of which he knows you, 
Caecilius, to be destitute. But of these, and the manner in which 
they exist in us both, I shall soon have occasion to speak. At 
present I shall only say, what you yourself must tacitly allow ; 
that there is nothing in me which he can contemn; nothing in 
you which he ought to dread. Hence his great friend and cham- 
pion Hortensius solicits for you, and opposes me. He openly 
demands of the judges, to give you the preference; and pre- 
tends, that in this he acts fairly, without jealous}^ or resentment. 
I ask not, says he, what 1 am wont to obtain, when I plead with 
earnestnefs: I ask not that the criminal should be acquitted; 
but only that he should be impeached by this man, rather than 
the other. Grant me but this ; grant what is easy, honourable, 
and safe; and in so doing, you will, without danger or infamy 
to yourselves, secure the absolution of him whose cause I 
espouse. And that tear as well as favour may determine you 
to a compliance, he says there are certain judges in court, to 
whom he is resolved the suffrages shall be shown. That this is 



C, if they condemned ; and N. L. that is, nan liquet, if the cause appeared 
doubtful. These tables were delivered to the proper officer, -who put them 
into an urn; and, after sorting them", declared the maioritv. As to the 

B4 " ' 



I w 



M. TV CIC'ERONIS ORATIONES. 



uniquique tabellam dari cera legitima, non ilia infami ac no 
taria. Atque is nou tarn propter Verrem laborat, quam quod 
cum nmiime r$S totil delectat. Videt enim si a ( u ) pueris no- 
bilibus, quos adliuc elusit, si a qudrupltftoribus, qnos non sine 
causa coutempsit semper, ac pro nihilo putavit, accusandi vo- 
luntas ad vivos fbrteis, spectatosque homines translata sit, se in 
judiciis dominari non poise. 

VIII. Huic ego homini jam ante denuntio, si a me causam 
banc vos agi yolueritis, rationem illi defendendi totam efse ma- 
tandam; ct ita tamen mutandam, ut meliore ec honestiore con- 
ditione sit, quam qua ipse else vult: ut imitetur homines eos, 
quos ipse vidit amplifsimos, L, Crafsum, et M. Antonium; qui 
nihil se arbitrabantur ad judicia, causasque' amicovum prater 
fidem & ingeuium afterre oportere. Nihil erit, quod, me agente r 
arbitretur judicium sine magno multorum periculo pofe cor- 
rumpi. Ego in hoc judieio milii Siculorum causam receptam, 
populi Horn, susceptam efse arbitror: ut mihi non unus homo 
improbus opprimendus sit, id quod Siculi petiverunt : sed om- 
ninb onmis improbitas, id quod populus Rom. jam diu rlagitat,. 
extinguenda, atque delenda sit. In quo ego quid eniti, aut quid, 
eificere pofsim, malo in aliorum spe relinquere, quam in oratione 
mea. ponere, Tu verd, Caecili! quid potes? quo tempore, aut 
qua in re^ non modo specimen coeteris aliquod dedisti, sed tute. 
tui periculum fecisti ? in mentem tibi non venit, quid negotii sit 
causam . publieam sustinere? vitam alterius totam explicare, at- 
que earn non modo in animis judicum, sed etiam in occulis, 
eonspectuque omnium exponere? sociorum salutem, commoda 
provinciarum, vim legum, gravitatem judiciorum defendere? 

IX. Cognosce ex me, qi-Tomam hoc primum tempus discendi 
nactus es, quam multa efse oporteat in eo, qui alterum ace u set : 
ex quibus si unum aliquod in te cognoveris^egojam tibi ipse istuc> 
quod expetis, mea, voluntate concedam.. Primum integritatem, 
atque irmocentiam singularem : nihil est enim. quod minus fereu- 

infamous tablets the author here speaks of; Asconius tells us, that Teren- 
lius \arro being, accused of extortion, and defended by Horten<iu<; the 

a u£ ? U .? d - mea ' 1S t0 COcrU P t the J ud g es ' and to ™ke sure that the* 
iulhlled their engagement, contrived to give them tablets covered oveV 
Wrtb wax of different cotes, that, by this letters inscribed upon each he 
might know whether they voted according to agreement 
k\»l 3 \ ^P^P^-^^^^^^D This refers to Appius CJau- 

W'n if . nfv^n fft y° Un l m ^ : ^ ° neof whom accused Terentius 
\ arro, the other Dolabella. But by the artful management of Hortensius 
v,-ho made use of the tickets of different colours mentioned above thev 
hZtfL* CQ[mited ' Th , e l^ruplatore* ver* officers, whose bus n'l 
it vavto take cognizance of state crimes, and prepare articles of imneic» - 



CiCERo's ORATIONS. 17 

an easy matter, as they give not their votes singly, but jointly 
and together. That every judge is to have a tablet legitimately 
waxed over, where artifice and treachery can have no place. 
Nor is all this anxiety so much for the sake of Verres, as from 
his dislike to the whole proceeding.* For he sees, that if the 
busineis of accusation is taken out of the hands of young men 
of quality whom he has hitherto baffled, and of pettifoggers 
whom he has always justly despised and set at nought, and com- 
mitted to men of courage and reputation, he can no longer do- 
mineer in the courts of justice as formerly. 

Sect. VIII. And here I think proper to acquaint this gentle- 
man beforehand, that if the cause in question is committed to 
my care, he must resolve upon changing his whole method of 
defence ; and yet the alteration will be such, as may perhaps 
tend more to his honour and reputation than he desires } by 
obliging him to an imitation of those great men whom he has 
seen make so distinguished a figure in the Forum, Lucius Crafsus, 
and Marcus Antonius, Avho thought themselves at liberty to em- 
ploy no weapons in defence of their clients, but integrity and 
eloquence. He shall have no reason to think, if I am charged 
with the impeachment, that this bench can be corrupted with- 
out great peril to many. In the cause now before you, my Lords, 
though I have indeed undertaken the defence of the Sicilians, 
yet I. consider myself as principally labouring for the Roman 
people; as endeavouring to crush, not a single opprefsor, which 
is all the Sicilians have in view, but to exterminate and abolish 
the very name of opprefsion ; which is what the Roman people 
have long desired with earnestneis. What my efforts or suecefs 
may be, I choose rather to leave to the imagination of others, than 
insinuate by any exprefsions of my own. But what are you, 
CcT:cilius, able to effect? On what occasion, or in what cause, 
have you either given proof of your abilities to others, or so 
much as made trial of them yourself? Do you reflect upon the 
difficulties of managing a public trial? of unravelling another's 
whole course of life, and fixing it not only in the minds of 
the judges, but painting it to the eyes and imagination of all 
men ? of defending the safety of our allies, the rights of provin- 
ces, the authority of the laws, and the majesty of justice ? 

Sect. IX. Learn from me, now that an opportunity of in-, 
forming yourself first fails in your way, how many qualifica- 
tions are required in the man who undertakes a public accusa- 
tion ; and if you can with justice lay claim to any one of them, 
I shall frankly give up the point in debate. First, an un- 
blemished innocence and integrity : for nothing can be more 



j£ M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES* 

dum sit, qtiam rationem ab altero vita? reposcere eum, qui non 
potsit sure reddere. Hie ego de te pluranon dicam: urmm illud 
credo omnes animadvertere, te ad hue ab nullis nisi a Siculis 
botuifsc ctfgnofci: Siculos hoc dicere, cum eidem sint irati, cui 
tu te inimicum else dicis, sese tamen, te actore, ad judicium 
lion aiVuturos. Quare negent, ex me non audies: hos patere 
id suspicari, quod necefse est. Illi quidem (ut est hominum 
genus nitfiis acutum et suspiciosum) non te ex Sicilia literas in 
Verrem deportare velle arbitrantur, sed ciimiisdem Uteris illiifs 
praetufa et tua quicstura consignata sit, ( M ) asportare te velle 
ex Sicilia literas suspicantur, Deinde accusatorem firmum 
verumque else oportet, Eum ego si te putem cupere else, fa- 
cile intelligo else non pofse. Nee ea dico, qua; si dicam, tamen 
intinuave non poisis, te, antequam de Sicilia decefseris, in gra- 
tiain rediifse cum Verre: Potamonem scribam, et familiarem 
tumn retentum efse a Verre in provjneia, cum tu decedere^: 
M. Caxilium, fratrem tuum, lectifsimum atque orriatiisiminn 
adolesccntum, non modo non adefse, neque tecum tuas injurias 
persequi, sed efse cum Verre, cum illo familiarifsime, atque 
amieifsime vivere. Sunt hauc et alia in te falsi accusatoris signa 
permulta: quibus ego nunc non utor. jHoe clico,te, si maxime 
cupias, tamen verum accusatorem else non poise. Video enim 
permulta efse crimina, quorum tibi societas cum Verre ejus- 
inodi est, ut ea in accusando attingere non audeas. 

X. Queritur Sicilia tota, C. Verrem ab aratoribus, cum fni- 
mentum sibi in cellam imperavifsit, et cum efset tritici modi us 
H. S. ii. pro frumento in modios singulos, duodenos sestertios 
exegifse. Magnum crimen! ingens pecunia ! furtum im- 
pudens! injuria non ferenda ! ego hoc uno criminc ilium 
condemnem necefse est. Tu, Csecili, quid facies ? Utrum 
hoc tantum crimen prcctermittes, an objicies? Si objicies, idne 
alteri crimini dabes, quod eodem tempore in cadem prov 
tu ipse fecisti ? Audebis ita accusare alterum, ut quo minus 
tute condemnere, recusare non pofsis? Sin pretermitted, qtialis 
erit ista tu accusatio, qua; domestici periculi metu, certifsim 
maximi criminis non modo suspicionem, verum etiam mentio- 



(14) Asportare te velle ex Sicilia litems suspicantur.'] When any pcr-on 
as admitted to act as an accuser, the pvaHor impowered him to seal ud 



(! 

v^as .._... ._~ „ v „„ — ««-w», *»~ K .«. w » 

••md send to Rome all papers that related to the impeachment. N< 
Ocilius's behaviour during his qusstorship was far from being blai 
and the evidences of Verres' guilt would serve likewise to expo 
crooked arts; there was reason to suspect, that, instead of carryjne 
papers to Some, he would contrive to destroy them, in order to pi 
ihcir being produced afterwards against himself. 



ClCfcRo's ORATIONS* J$ 

absurd, than for a man to call in question the life of another, 
who is unable to give a good account of his own. I will make 
no particular application of this to you. One thing I believe 
is taken notice of by all, that the Sicilians are the only people 
who have had an opportunity of knowing you ; and yet these 
very Sicilians declare, that, exasperated as they are at the raaa 
to whom you pretend yourself an enemy, were you to be his 
accuser, not one of them would be present at the trial. The 
reasons 'of this refusal I am not willing to repeat. It is evident 
they suspect, what indeed they cannot avoid suspecting. As 
they are a shrewd suspicious set of men, they imagine you would 
not bring testimonies from Sicily against Verres ; but, seeing 
the acts of his praetorship and your quaestorship are registered 
in the same journals, rather suspect you would secrete their 
records. An accuser ought likewise to be a man of firmnefs 
and veracity. Were I disposed to think well of your intentions 
this way, I easily perceive that no such qualifications can be-^ 
lono- to you. Nor do I mention those circumstances, which, if 
mentioned, you could not disprove : that, before you left Sicily, 
you was reconciled to Verres: that Potamo, your secretary and 
confidant, remained with Verres in the province after your 
departure : that Marcus Ccecilius, your brother, a most hopeful 
and accomplished youth, is not only not present and not afsist- 
ing in prosecuting your injuries, but is now actually with Verres, 
and lives there in the strictest friendship and familiarity. These, 
and many other presumptions of a suborned accuser, which 
I omit at present, are to be found in you. This however I 
maintain, that were your inclinations never so good, it is im- 
pofsible you should acquit yourself honestly in the present trial. 
For I perceive a great many crimes, in which you arc so much 
an accomplice with Verres, that you dare not touch upon them 
in the impeachment. 

Sect. X. All Sicily complains that Verres, when he had 
ordered his magazines to be filled, and corn was at two ses- 
terces a bushel, extorted money of the farmers at the rate of 
twelve. An enormous abuse, an exorbitant sum, a barefaced 
robbery, an insupportable injustice! This single crime, in my 
judgment, were sufficient to condemn hirn. But how do you 
intend to behave, Cacihus? Will you object, or pafs over this 
crying injustice? If you object it, do you not charge another 
with a crime, of which you was yourself guilty at the same 
time, and in the same province? Will you venture to accuse 
another in such manner, as must needs draw the same degree 
of guilt upon yourself? But if you pafs it over, of what 
nature must that accusation be, which, from an apprehension 
of personal danger, dreads not only the suspicion, but the very 



o ( ) M, -f. CICERONISORATIOICES. 

nen> ipsatf pemmoscat ? ( ,s ) Emptum est ex S. C. framen- 
rum ab Sit fills Prirtofe Verre, pro quo frumento pecunia omnis 
Sdiuta ndri est! Grave est lioc crimen in Verrerii, grave me 

t< : to aCteUSarfte nullum. Eras enim tu quaestor : pe- 
dSiliam ptiblicam tu tract abas: ex qua etiamsi cuperet pra-tor, 
taiucii ne qua de.ductio (ictct, magna ex parte tu'a potestas erat. 
Hujus quCuiue igitur criminis, te accusante, mentio. nulla net. 
Silchitur tbtd judicio do maximis et notilsimus illius furtiset in- 
juriis. TMilii credo, (acili, non potest in accusanelo socios 
rjfefendere is, qui cum reo criminum societate conjunctus 
e>t. Nfaticipes a oivitatibus pro frumeiito pecuniarn exegerunt. 

. : hoc,' Verre Pnrto're, factum est solum? non: sea etiam 
Qmvstore Gucilio. Quid igi'tiir ? daturus es huic crimini, quod 
et potuisti prolubere ne ikTet, ct'debuisti? an tot urn id relin-* 
quesr Ergo id omnino Vcrres in jiidicio suo non audiet, quod 
cum faciebat, quemadmodum defensurus efset, non reperiebat. 

XI. Atqiie ego lwc, quae in medio posita sunt, commemoro. 
Sunt alia niagis occulta furta, qua) ille, ut istius, credo, animos, 
atque impetus retardaret, cum qua?store suo benignifsime coni- 
municavit. Eiac tu scis ad me efse' clelata : quae si velim proferre, 
facile omncs intelligent, vobis inter vos non modo voluntatem 
fuiise conjunctam, sed ne praedam quidem adhuc efse divifam. 
Quapropter si tibi indicium postulas dari, quod tecum una fece- 
ret: concedo, si id lege permittitur: sin autem de accusatione 
dicimus ; concedas oportet lis, qui nullo suo peccato impediuntur, 
quo minus alterius peccata demonstrare pol'sint. Ac vide, quan- 
tum interfuturum sit inter meam atque tuam accusationem. Ego, 
etiam qua) tu sine Verre oommisisti, Verri crimini daturus sum, 
quod te non prohibuerit, cum sUmmam ipse haberet potesta- 
tem: tu contra, ne quae ille quidem fecit objicies, ne qua ex 
parte conjunctus cum eo reperiare. Quid ilia, Caecilir con- 
temnenda-ne tibi videntur efse, sine quibus 'causa sustineri, piie- 
sertim tanta, nullo modo potest ?. aliqua facultas agendi, aliqua 
dicendi consuetudo, aliqua in foro, judiciis, legibus, aut ratio, 
aut exercitatio r Intelligo quam scopuloso, difficilique in loco ver- 
ser : nam cum omnis arrogantia odiosa est, turn ilia iugenii, atque 
eloquentiae multo molestifsima. Quamobrem nihil ctico de meo 
ingenio, neque est quod ; pofsim dicere, neque si efset, dicerem; 



(15) Emptum est ex S. C. frumenium ab .Siculis,'] Sicily paid to the 
Romans, by way of tribute, a tenth part of her corn. But' as the island 
abounded in grain, and was in a manner the storehouse of Rome, they were 
likewise obliged, by a decree of the senate, to allow another tenth lor the 
use of the state ; for which they were to receive a fixed price. Verres, it 
seems, exacted this tenth; but, instead of paying for it, as usual, con- 
verted the money to his own private use, 



cicero's orations. » 21 

the very mention of a notorious and crying injustice? By a de- 
cree of the senate, a quantity of corn was bought from the 
Sicilians, under the pratorship of Verres, for which complete 
payment was never made. This is a heavy article against 
Verres; heavy, if objected by me; but of no avail, if by you, 
For you was' then quarter; you had 'the management of the 
public money; and it depended in a great measure upon you to 
prevent any abatement, supposing even the prater had desired 
it. This crime will likewife pais unmentioned in your accusa- 
tion. His greatest and most notorious frauds and exactions 
will not be so much as objected to him in the trial. Believe 
me, Caecilius, he is ill qualified to defend the rights of the allies 
in an impeachment, who is himself an afsociate with the accused 
in his crimes, The farmers of the revenue extorted money 
from the cities, instead of corn. Was this done only during the 
prajtorship of Verres? No: hut also during the quscstorship of 
Csecilius, Will you then charge him with a crime which you 
both could and ought to have prevented? or, will you entirely 
supprefs this article ? Verres will therefore hear no mention in 
his trial of a crime, which, at the time of committing it, he 
was conscious, he could not defend. 

Sect. XI. But I poly speak of notorious and known facts. 
There are others of a more private nature, in which Verres 
kindly shared with his quaestor, to stifle his heat and resent- 
ment. You know | am informed of all these; and were I to 
■disclose them at this time, it would appear that you were not 
only confederates in guilt, but that part of the plunder remains 
yet to be divided. If, therefore, you desire to be admitted an 
evidence as to these points, I have nothing to object, provided^ 
the laws allow- it. But if the dispute regards the impeachment, 
you must leave that to those who are deterred by no crimes 
of their own, from laying open the guilt of another. Think 
only of the difference between your accusation and mine. I 
mean tq charge Verres with the crimes committed by you, 
without his participation; because, though the chief command 
resided in him, he did not prevent them. You, on the con- 
trary, will not so much as object his personal guilt, lest- you 
should be found in any instance an accomplice with him. But 
say, Oxcilius,^lo you make no account of these qualifications, 
without which a cause, especially one so important, Cannot be 
sustained — the practice of the forum — the exercise of speaking — - 
the knowledge of our laws, constitution, and courts of judi- 
cature? I know what a rugged and dangerous path I am got 
into : for as arrogance of every kind is hateful, so in *a particular 
manner that of wit and eloquence. I shall therefore say nothing 
of my own talents: there is indeed no room for it; and if it 



M. T. CICEIVQ^IS 0RATI0NES. 

am cnim id mihi satis est, quod est de me opinionis, quidquii* 
est ; am si id paruni est, ego majus id commeuiorando facere 
lion polsuni. 

MI. IV to, Grcili, jam mehercule, hoc extra hanc con- 
tentioncui certanienque iiostrum familiariter tecum loquar. Tu 
ipse quemadinodum.exisimcs, vide etiam atque etiam, et tu te 
collide, et qui sis, et quid facere pofsis considera Putas-ne-te 
nofse de maxiniis, acerbifsimisque rebus, cum causam sociorum 
ibrtunasque provincial jus populi Rom. gravkatem judicii legum- 
que susceperis, tot res," tarn graveis, tarn varias, voce, memoria, 
consilio, ingenio, sustinere? Putas-ne te pofse, quae C. Verres 
mquBDStura, qua' in legatione, quae in praetura, ( ,6 )quae Rome, 
qua- in Italia, qua- in Achaia, Asia, Pamphyliaque, patrarit, 
ea queniadniodnm locis temporibusque divisa sint, sic crimini- 
bus, etoratione distingure ? Putas-ne te pofse, id quod in ejusmodi 
reo maxime necefsarium est, facere, ut, quae ille libidinose, 
quae nefarie, quae crndeliter fecerit, ea acque acerba, et indigna 
videantur else iis, qui audient, atque illis visa sunt, qui senserunt? 
magna sunt ea, quae dico, inihi crede; nolihaccontemnere; dicen- 
da, demonstranda, explicando sunt omnia: causa non solum ex- 
ponenda, sed etiam graviter, copioseque agenda est : perficien- 
dume st, si quid agere aut perficere vis, nt homines te non solum 
audiant verum etiam libenter studioseque audiant. In quo si te 
multum natura adjuvaret, si optimis a pueritia disciplinis atque 
artibus studuifses, et in his elaborates, si litems Graecas Aine- 
nis, non Lilybaei, Latinas Romae, non in Sicilia ('") didicifses: 
tanien efset magnum, tantam causam tarn exspectatam, et dili- 
gentia consequi, et menioriti complecti, et oratione exponere, et 
voce et viribus sustinere. Fortafse dices, Quid r ergo haec in te 
sunt omnia? Utinam .quidem efsent: verum tamen ut else pos- 
sent, magno studio mini a pueritia est elaboratum. Quod si 
ego bsec propter magnitudinem rerum, ac difricultatem afsequi 
non potui, qui in omni vita nihil aliud egi, quam longe tu te 
ab liis rebus abefse arbitrare, quas non modo antea nunquam 
cogitasti, sed ne nunc quidem, cum in eas ingrederis, qiue et 
quantae sint, suspleari potes ? 



(16) Qua: Kovue, que in Italia, qua; in Achaia, A fid, SCc.~] Cicero refers 
here to the different offices through which Verres had parcel, in all which 
Iws conduct had been infamous and corrupt. He was quaestor to Carbo in 
the consular province, and Dolabella's lieutenant in Asia. He had exercised 
the office of praetor at Home and in Italy, and acted with a public character 
in Achaia, and the provinces of Asia Minor. 

(17) Atl-wnis, non Lth/ba-i, Roma;, non in Sicilia. ] Cicero here sneers 
at Carilius, .and insinuates that his education was at best but lame, as 
lie had learned both Greek and Latin in Sicilv, where neither language was 
spoken 'with purity. Athens was the most* celebrated amon^ The Greek 
cities, both for elegance of speech, and the perfection of the sciences; and 
Home was the only place for studying with advantage the Latin tongue: 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 21 

was otherwise, I would yet choose to be silent. It is enough 
for me that I have a reputation, how slender soever it may be : 
or, if that suffices not, nothing I can say will serve to raise it. 

Sect. XII. As for you, Oecilius, laying aside our present 
dispute and controversy, I will addrefs you as a friend. Ex- 
amine your own thoughts carefully; recollect yourielf; con- 
sider who you are, and what you are capable of. Do you 
imagine, in a cause of so much weight and difficulty, where 
}ou will be called upon to support the interest of the allies, 
the safety of the province, the rights of the Roman people, and 
the majesty of the laws and legislature-; do you imagine, I say, 
that you have eloquence, memory, understanding, and capacity 
sufficient for the management of so many, so various, and such 
complicated points ? Do you imagine, when you come to lay 
open the abuses of Verres, in his qua^storship, in his praetor- 
ship, as lieutenant to Dolabella, at Rome, in Italy, in Achaia, 
Asia, and Pamphylia, that you will be able to describe and 
point them out in your impeachment, in like manner as they 
are distinguished as to time and place? And, which is indis- 
pensably necefsary in a prosecution of this kind, do you imagine 
yourself able to draw such a picture of the lust, cruelty, and 
wickednefs of the criminal, that the very hearers shall feel the 
same resentment and indignation as the persons who suffered 
under them? Believe me, Sir, these are important points of 
which I speak, and such as I would by no means advise you to 
slight. Every circumstance must be laid down, proved, and ex- 
plained. The charge must not only be opened, but set off with 
all the How and dignity of eloquence. If you hope to succeed, 
it is not enough that you are barely heard; you must make 
yourself be heard with pleasure and attention. Were you never 
so happy in the gifts of nature ; had you from your earliest 
youth been trained in all the liberal arts and sciences, and im- 
proved them by Continual study ; had you learned Greek at 
Athens, instead of Lilyb&um ; Latin at Rome, instead of Sicily ; 
it would yet be a mighty acquisition, to master by your diligence 
a cause of so much weight and expectation ; to comprehend it 
in 5-our memory, explain it by your eloquence, and sustain it 
with all the advantages of action and utterance. Perhaps you 
will tell me, What! do all these qualities then meet in you? 
I wish indeed they did ! However, I have earnestly laboured 
from my childhood to attain them. But if<I, who have em~ 
pWed my whole life in this pursuit, have not been able to suc- 
ceed by reason of their weight and difficulty ; how very remote 
must you be, who not only never thought of them before, but 
now, that you arc engaged in them, cannot so much as com- 
prehend their nature and importance ? 

2 



ni M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES* 

XIII. Ego, qui, sicut omnes sciunt, in foro judiciisque ita ver- 
pgr, ut ejtisdemsBta^s aut nemo, aut pauci plureis causas defen- 
der-nit, et qui omne tempus quod mihi ab amicorum negotus 
datur, in his studiis laboribusque consumam, quo paratior ad 
iisuin tbrenscni promtiorque efse pofsim: tamen, ita Deos miiii 
velim propitios, ut cum illius diei mihi venit in mentem, quo 
die, citato rco, mihi dicendum sit, non solum cemmoveor animo, 
sed etiatn toto corpora perhorresco. Jam nunc mente, et cogi- 
tatione prospicio, "quae turn studia heminum, qui cone ursus iu- 
turi ant, quantam expectationem magnitudo judicii sit allatura, 
quantam auditorum multitudinem C. Verrisinfamia concitatura, 
quantum denique audientiam orationi meae improbitas illius fac- 
tum sit. Qua? cum cogito, jam nunc timeo, quid nam pro oflen- 
lione hominum, qui illi inimici, infenfique sunt, et expectation^ 
omnium, et magnitudine . rerum dignum eloqui pofsim. Tu 
horum nihil metms, nihil cogitas, nihil laboras: et si quid ex ve- 
tere atiqiia oratione, {' 8 ) JOVEM EGO OPTIMUM MAX- 
IMUM; aut VELLEM, SI FIERI POTUISSET, JUDICES, 
aut aliquid ejusmodi ediscere potueris, proeelare te paratum in 
judicium venturum arbitraris. Ac si tibi nemo response rus 
dset, tamen ipsam causam, ut ego arbitror, demonstrare non 
pofses. Nunc ne illud quidem cogitas, tibi cum homine discrtis- 
simo, et ad dicendum paratifsimo futurum efse certamen, qui- 
cum modo difserendum, modo omni oratione pugnandum, cer- 
tandumque sit? Gujus ego ingenium ita laudo, ut non perti- 
mescam: ita probo, ut me ab eo delectari facilius, quam decipi 
putem pofse. 

XIV. Nunquam ille me opprimet consilio: nun quam ullo 
artificio pervertet: nunquam ingenio me suo labefactare, at(|ue 
infirmare conabitur : novi omneis hominis petitiones, rationes- 
oue dicendij sgepe^n iisdem, saepe in contrariis causis versatj 
sumus. Ita contra me ille dicet, quamvis sit ingeniosus, ut 
is on nullum etiam de suo ingenio judicium fieri arbitretur. '!• 
Tero, Ceecili, quemadmodum sit elusurus, quam omni ratiooe 
jactaturus, videre jam videor: quoties ille tibi potestatem optio- 
ziemque facturus sit, ut eligas utrum velis factum elk', m i 
verum efse, an falsum: utrum dixeris, id contra te tut i. 
Qui tibi aestus, qui error, quae tenebraj, Dii iminorrak>, eruat, 
homini minime malo! Quid? cum aecusationis tine niei 

(18) Jovem egg optimum maximum.'] Cicero in this < : -cults 

Caecilius, whom he represents as a commonplace orator, who thought he 
had acquitted .himself well, if he made use of the phrases in repute among 
ordinary pleaders ; with whom it was usual to begin their speed). 
by invoking the gods: 

Pne at us divas, solio rex injit ab alto. 
Or, by reprehending the prevailing vices of the times : 
Y&lem cum primix fieri siforspotir 



2.5 

Sect. XIII. Though, as all know, my practice in the forum 
and public trials has been such, tbat few or none of the same 
age have been concerned in more causes'; and though I have 
employed all the time I could spare from the businefs of my 
friends, in these studies and occupations, that I might be ex- 
pert and ready at the practice of the bar, yet may I never 
enjoy the favour of Heaven, if, as often as I reflect upon the 
day when I must appear against the accused, I do not feel 
not only a great anxiety upon my mind, but a trembling in 
eye: v joint. Already I figure to myself the eagernefs and cu- 
riosity of the public upon this occasion ; what an expectation 
the importance of the trial will raise ; what crowds of people 
the infamy of Verres will draw together ; in fine, what an 
attention the detail of his villanles will beget to my discourse. 
Ail which when I reflect upon, I am under no small concern, 
how I shall acquit myself suitable to the importance of the trial, 
the expectations of the public, and the resentment of those 
whom he has irritated and provoked by his oppressions. You 
have no anxiety, apprehension, or trouble about these things; 
and if you but learn from some antiquated oration, I call to wit- 
nejs the all-powerful Jupiter, or, vixj Lords, I could heartily wish, 
or some such commonplace phrase, you imagine you come 
abundantly prepared for the trial. It is my opinion, that if no 
one was to oppose you, you are yet incapable of making good 
the charge. 13ut now you never so much as reflect, that, you 
are to enter the lists with a man of consummate eloquence, and 
thoroughly prepared for his client's defence ; one with whom 
you must argue, canvafs, and settle every point: whose 
capacity I praise without dreading it ; and whose eloquence, 
I allow, may charm me, but can never impose upon my 
judgment. 

Sect. XIV. Never shall his measures disconcert, never his 
arts baffle me ; nor will ho even attempt to weaken and under- 
mine me by his abilities. I know all his methods of attack, 
all the artifice of his pleading. We have often been con- 
cerned in the same, often in contrary causes. Great as his 
abilities are, he will yet oppose me in such a manner, as to 
show he is hot without some dread of his adversary. But as 
for you, Caxilius, I already figure to myself, in what manner 
he will disconcert and perplex you. As often as he leaves 
to your choice, to admit or deny a fact, to agree to or reject 
a proposition, which side soever you take, you will still find it 
make against you. Immortal Gods ! What confusion, what un- 
certainty, what darknefs will the good man fall into ! How will 
he be amazed, when his adversary begins to digest the different 
heads of the accusation, and arrange upon his fingers the several 

C 



}l M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

dividerc nrperit {»)>, et in digitis suis singulas parteis causa- €on- 
strHiere? quid, cftm unumquodque transigere, expcdire, aiisol- 
vere? Ipse protecto metucre incipies, ne imiocenti pcriculum 
fmvfseris. Qtfidjj curti ctamitearr, conqueri, et ex illius invulia 
deonerarc aliqui'd, et in 'to trajicere creperit r commembrare 
quasioris cum pnvtore neeclsitudinem cortstitutam ? morem 
majorum? sortis religionem ? poteris-ne ejus orationis subire 
invidiam? Vide niodo, etuun atque etiam considera; mihi cairn 
videtur periculuni fore, nv iile non mode verbis te obrtutt. 
ovsui ipso, ac motu corporis pnestringat aciem ingeuii tui, teque 
ttb instrtUtis rnis, cogitationi busque abducat. Atque huj usee rei 
judicium jam continue) video futurum. 8i eriira mihi hodie res. 
pondere ad luce, qua*, dice-, potueris: si ab isto iibro, quern tibi 
uuigister ludi, nescio quis, ex aiienis orationibus compositum 
d&lk-, verbo uno discefseris: poise te, et i 11 i quoque judicio non 
deefse^ er causa? atque officio tuo satisfacere arbitrabbr. Sin 
inecnm in Viae prolusione nihil flieris; quern te in q>sa pugna 
cum acerrimo adversano fore putemus ? 

XV. Esto: ipse nihil est, nihil potest: at venit parattis 
('') cum subscriptoribus exercitatis et disertis. Est tamen hoc 
aliquid : tametsi non est satis. Omnibus enim rel)us is, qui prin- 
ccps in agendo est, ornatifsimus et paratifsimus else debet. Ve- 
funtameri L. Apuleium else video proxinnun subscriptorem, 
hominem non estate, sed usu forensi, atque exercitatione tyro- 
nem. Deinde, ut opinor, habet Alhenum: huuc tamen a sub- 
sellis: qui quid in dicendo polset, nunquam satis attend! : in 
clamaado quidem video eum else bene robustum, atque extftf*. 
citatum. In hoc spes tute sunt oiunes: hie, si tu eris actor < <>n- 
stitutus, totum judicium- sustinebk. Ac ne is quidem t. 
contendet in dicendo, quantum potest : sed consulet Jaudi i 
istimationi tinr, et ex eo quod ipse potest in dicendo, aliquantYltn 
remitter, ut tu tandem aliquid else videare. Ut ill anetoribks 
Graxus -fieri videmus, stepe ilium qui est secundanun, aut u*r- 



(1P) Quid? cum accusationes hue membra dividers cccperi < 
carries his raillery against Cheilitis so far, as even to laujjh at"] I 
who numbered the heads of his defence upon his finders: A very sfa 
succefsful way ofrendering a great man ridiculous. 

(20) Cum subscript uribus exercitatis et disertis.'] The solicitors "were 
those who alsisted the accuser to manage the accusation; and none were 
allowed to take this office upon them, til! they had received a pov 
so doing from the judges. Cicero here observes, that as they had only 
an under part to act, it was against the rules of propriety to" see 
surpafsthe principal manager of the trial; which vet must hap| 
Cheilitis, whose abilities were n<s> way equal to the task of conduct 
impeachment. Some of those solicitors are named and characterised 
•here: as Apuleius, of whom we have no accounts thafcean be relied on ; 
only from Cicero's words we may conclude that he was both a.. 
and a bad orator, MUcnus, another of the solicitors, is describt 



27 

parts of the cause! when be sets himself to examine, prove, 
and did ills every article ! You will even begin to suspect that 
you l^ave brought an innocent man into danger. Say, when he 
shall endeavour to excite pity and companion, and to throw 
some of the public odium from Verres upon you; when he 
shall urge the sacred tie of quaestor and praetor; the practice of 
our ancestors; and the awful decision of the provincial lot; will 
you be able to bear the load of hatred his discourse must bring 
upon your Consider with yourself, reflect again and again: for 
to me there seems great danger, not only of his disconcerting 
you with his pleading, but of his confounding your very senses 
bv his action and gesture, and driving you from all your pur- 
poses and resolves. But I perceive we are soon to have a spe- 
cimen of what may be expected from you. For if you answer 
to the purpose what I have advanced against you ; if you de- 
part one word from that scroll of pilferred pleadings, which i 
know not what pedagogue has put into your hands; I shall then 
allow, that you may acquit yourself well in the present trial, 
and be equal to the cause and province you have undertaken 
to manage. But if ia this prelude you should prove nobody, 
what can we expect from you in the engagement itself against 
a formidable adversary? 

XV. But, perhaps, I shall be told : Csecilius indeed is nothing ; 
can do nothing; but becomes, backed with able and expert 
solicitors. This, I own, is something ; yet it is far from being 
sufficient. For, in all affairs, he that holds the first rank ought 
to be every way ready and prepared. But I find Lucius Apuleius 
is his first solicitor, a man in years indeed, but a mere novice in 
the practice and businefs of the forum. His next, I think, is Al- 
lienus, hitherto concerned only in petty trials; and whose elo- N 
quence I am very little acquainted with. I perceive, indeed, that 
he is well trained and exercised in bawling. All your hopes rest 
upon him. If the eaufe is committed to yoiir management, he 
will sustain the whole weight of the prosecution. And yet he will 
not exert his utmost in pleading, but show a proper regard to 
your character and reputation, and check in some degree, the 
impetuosity of his eloquence, that you may have an opportunity 
of shining. As it often happens among the Greek actors ; when 



one concerned only in petty trials: for, according to Nonius, the tri* 
bunes, the quaeftors, and the inferior judges, sat on forms or subsellia, and 
not in the sella- curules, or the Roman chairs of state. Cicero desires the 
judges to take notice, what kind of trial the present was like to prove, if left 
to the management of Caecilius; when even Allienus, a mere pettifogger, 
and distinguished only by strength of lungs, would yet be necefsitated to 
contract his talents, and. check the sallies of his genius, in order that the 
other might preserve some character of distinction, in the course of the 
pleadings. 

C2 



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 
tiaru.n i-rtium, cum pofsit aliquanto clarius dicere, qaam ipse 
primarum, nuiltmn summittcre, ut ille prirxeps quam maxime 
excel! it • sic faciei Allienus: tibi serviet, tibi lenocmabitur, im- 
.^alHmantocondcndet, quam potest. Jam hoc considerate, 
cuwsmodi accusatores in tanto judicio simus habitun : cum et 
,pse Ulieiiw ex ea iacultate, si quam habet, ahquantum detrac- 
mrussj.t, ct Orcihus turn deniquc se aliquid futurum putet, si 
\lfienus minus vehemens tuerit, et sibi pnmas in dicenao par- 
tus cpncefserit. QuarUim quern sit habiturus, non ndeq, nisi 
quern forte ex ille grege Oraiarum, qui subscnptionem sibi 
postulanint, cuieumque vos delationem dediisetis. ( ) k3 
tmibus aliemtsimis hominibus, ita paratus venis, ut tibi hospes 
'aliquis sit reeipicudus. Quibus ego non sum tantum nonorein 
liabiturus, ut ad ea qua; dixerint, certo loco, aut smgulatini 
unieuique respondeat.. &c breviter, quoniam non consulto, 
spd'casu, in corum . mentionem incidi, quasi praleneus, satis- 
fuciam universis. 



XVI. Tanta-ne vobis inopia videor efse amicorura, ut mihi 
non ex his! quos inecum adduxerim, sed de populo subscripted ad- 
datur ?' vobis autem tanta inopia reorum est, ut mihi causam 
ripere conemini potius, quam aliquos ( 2a ) a columna Moenia 
vestri ordinis reos "reperiatis? Custodem, inquit, Tullio me ap- 
.ponite. Quid? mihi quam multis eustodibus opus erit, si te se- 
me! ad meas capsas admisero? qui non solum ne quid en unties, 
sed etiam ne quid auf eras, custodiendus sis. Sed de isto cus- 
tode toto sic vobis brevifsime respondebo: non efse hos tales 
viros commilsuros, ut ad causam tan tarn a me susceptam, mihi 
creditam, quisquam subscriptor, me invito, aspirate polsit. 
Erenim fides mea custodem repudiat, diligentia spcculatorem 
rcibrmidat. Verum, ut ad te, Caecili, redeani, quam multa 
te deficient, vides: quam multa sint in te, qua) reus . 
accusatore suo cupiat else, profecto jam intelligis. Quid ad hsec 
dici potest? non enim qua?ro quid tu dicturus sis. Video milii 
non te, sed bur e librum else responsurum, quern monitor tuus 
hie tenet:, qui, si te recte monere volet, suadebit tibi, ut hin< 



(21) Ex quibus aiienifsimis hominibus.~\ Thac is, men unacquainted 
with the busiuefs of the forum, and strangers to the forms and ma 
of a public trial.. Our orator here plays a little with words, and puns upoa 
the name of Allienus, i. e. strange; which he insinuates e.xprefses the real 
'character^!* the man, who was indeed a stranger to the businefe of im- 
peachments. This art of amusing a bench, low and trivial as it r. 
seems to have been much in use at Rome, and was often very succdsiul. 

(<22) A columna Mcenid.'] The Mcenian column stood in the forum, and 
was so called from one Mcenius, who having sold his house to I 
Cato the censors, whose design was to build a temple there, r< - 
pillar for himself and his posterity, as a place whence the\ 
hold the public shows. At this pillar thieves, or.servants wl 
guilty of some fault, were punished by the Triumviri, At it im 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 29 

a person appointed to play an inferior character, thoi Me 

of eclipsing him that has the first, chooses yet to coYice; 
that the principal parts may appear with all possible afdrahta 
Such will be the conduct of Allien ite. Me will study to act i 
an under part in this affair; he will endeavour to let you oh 
advantage ; and, to that end, will abate a little of his wonted 
force. Consider then, my Lords, what prosecutors we are like 
to have in this important trial, -where even Allieims will supprefs 
some part of. his eloquence, if in truth we can allow him any ; 
and where Csecilius can only hope to make a figure, if Allieiius 
abates of his usual vehemence, and leaves the principal part 
to Him. Who is to act as fourth solicitor I cannot tell, unlefs 
perhaps some one of those common retainers to causes, who 
watch for employment under the prosecutor, to whomsoever 
that part is adjudged. And yet with the aid of these men, 
strangers as they are to the businefs of the forum, you think 
yourself abundantly prepared to entertain the public. But I 
shall not honour them so far, as to answer them singly and by 
turns. This slight notice, as I mentioned them by accident, 
riot design, shall suffice for them all. 

Sect. XVI. Am I so very destitute, do you imagine, of friends, 
as to be obliged tp take a solicitor, not from among those who 
now attend me, but from the dregs of the people ? And' are you 
in such want of clients, as rather to aim at wresting this cause 
out of my hands, than inquire after some criminal of your own 
rank from the Menian column? Appoint me, says he, a spy 
upon Tully. A spy, indeed! How many must I keep in pa}', 
were you to have accefs to my cabinet ? Since not your tongue 
only, but your fingers too require to be watched. But as to this 
whole race of spies, I will thus answer you in short; that such 
men as this court is composed of, will never fuffer any solicitor 
to aspire at employment under me against my inclination, in a 
cause of so great importance, undertaken by, and intrusted to 
me. For my honesty disdains a spy, aud my diligence daunts 
an informer. But to return to you, Caxilius, you see how many 
are your defects ; you must surely by this time be sensible how 
many reasons the criminal has to wish you for an accuser. 
Vv'hat answer can be made to this? I ask not what answer 
you can make; for I see it is not from you, but from the book 
which your prompter holds, that we are to expect an answer. 
But if it prompts you right, it will advise you to leave this 

were laid against the lefs notorious offenders ; audit was frequented by 
the most proiligate and abandoned set of wretches. 

(Ibid.) Custodcm, inquit, Tullio me opponite.'] It was customary among 
the Romans to set spies upon the accusers/that so they might not have an 
opportunity of being corrupted or bribed. Of thes*e spies the accused 
had the nomination. 

C3 



/ 



^ ,(. t. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

.mivcrbuiuullumrespondcas. Quid enim dices? 

dietit*s, injuriam tibi fecilse Venem r Arbitror; 

m efset verisiimie, cum omnibus Sicuhs faceret mjii- 

iUi niium eximium, cui consuleret, fuifse. Sed ca*» 

i ultorem suarum injuriarum invenerunt: tu, duni tuas in- 

ias per te, id quod rion pores, perseqiu conaris, id agis, ut 
Uterorum quoque injuria suit impunity, otque jnultae : et hoc 
te urateriit, non id solum spectari solere, qui debeat, sed etiam 
illud, qui pofsitulcisci; in quo utrumque sit, euro supenorem 
efse: in quo alteram, in eo non quid is vein, sed quid facere 
poisit, quart solere. Quod si ei potiisimum censes permitti 
oportere accusandi potestatem, cui raaximam C. Verres mjunam 
fecerit : utrum tandem censes hos Judices gravms ferre oportere, 
- lilo efse laesum, an provinciam Siciliam efse vexatam, ac 
perditam ? Opinor, concedis, multo hoc et efse gravms, et ab 
omnibus ferri oravitis oportere. Concede igitur, ut tibi ante- 
ponatur in accusando provincial nam provincia accusat, cum 
is agit causam, quern sibi ilia defensorem sui juris, ultorem in- 
juriarum, actorem totius causae adoptavit. 

XVII. At etiam tibi C. Verres fecit mjuriam, qua? cate- 
rorum quoque animos pofset alieno incommodo commovere. 
Minime; nam id quoque ad rem pertinere arbitror, qualis in- 
juria dicatur; quae caufa inimicitiarum proferatur. Cognoscite 
ex me: nam iste earn profecto, nisi plane, nihil sapit, nun- 
quani proferet. Agonis est qusedam, Lilybaetana, ( 2j ) liberta 
Veneris Erycinae : quae mulier ante nunc qua?storem copiosa, 
plane et locuples fuit. Ab hac ( l +) praefectus Antonii quid am 
svniphoniacos servos abducebat per injuriam, quibus se in 
clafse uti velle dicebat. Turn ilia, ut mos in Sicilia est omnium 
Veneieonim, et eorum qui a Venere se liberaverunt, ut prac- 
tecto illi religionem Veneris, nomenque objiceret, dixit, et se, et 
omnia sua Veneris else. Ubi ha c Quaestori Cacilio, viro opt i mo, 
et hnmini aquifsimo, nuntiatum est; vocari ad se Agon idem 
jubet: judicium dat statim, SI PARERET, earn se, et sua Vc ue- 

(J.3) Liberta Veneris Eryciruc ~] This Agonis is no where mentioned in 

history, except in the pafsage now before us. She is said to be'enfran 
from the service of Venus, because she had completed the legal tern, 
priesthood, and was therefore absolved from the obligation of anv farther 
attendance upon the goddefs. Venus Ervcina was so called, from" E 
high mountain in Sicily, where she had a very rich and celebrated temple. 

(243 Prd'fectus Antoyiii qnidam symphaniacos servos abducebat 
rfam, quibus se in clafse uti velle decibat.'] The Antony here spoken i 
fore the war with the pirates, was appointed to protect the whole maritime 
coasts of the Roman empire. But as lie was man of a profligate 
and had a set of officers under him of the same stamp, he unju>tK al 
the Cretans, and by his ill management perished in the attempt. " The pre- 
tence for seizing the music-servants, was owing to the custom of exercisiug 
the rowers by the sound of instruments, which were made use of bv the, 
ancients on board their fleets, as the drum is now in military discipline. 



31 

place, without offering at one word of reply. For what can 
you ajlege.f Will you rjty to the old pretence, that Verres has 
injured you ? I am ready to grant he did ; tor it is by no means 
likely, when his injuries extended to the whole people of Sicily,, 
that you alone should be exempted on. this occasion. But the 
rest of the Sicilians have found an avenger of their wrongs: 
you, while you endeavour to prosecute your own injuries, for 
which you are no way qualified, are like to be the cause that. 
those also of others should pais unpunished and unrevenged: 
for you ought to consider, that riot the right only, but the power 
also of punishing, demands our regard in a case of this nature,, 
"When both these meet in one person, he doubtleis is to be pre- 
ferred; but where only one or them is found, the choice nar 
rurally fails on him who has the most power, not who has the 
best will. But if you are of opinion, tliat the right of accusa- 
tion belongs to him who has received the greatest injury, which 
do you thiuk ought to weigh most with the judges, the wrongs 
done to yon, or the ravages and depredations of a whole pro- 
vince? I believe vou will allow j that these last are far more 
crying and obnoxious. Yield then the preference, in this point, 
to the; province. For the province then accuses, when the 
management of the cause is committed to him, whom they have 
chosen as the patron of their rights, the avenger of their wrongs, 
and their advocate for redrefs of grievances. 

Sect. XVII. But you wjll tell me, perhaps, that the injury 
you have received from Verres is of such a nature, as cannot 
fail to rouse resentment even in the hreasts of others. Hits 
I deny; and indeed think it very material to the question 
in hand, what the nature of the injur)- is, and what first gave 
rise to the quarrel. Learn it then of me, my Lords: for he sur£ 
will never disclose it, unlefs he is quite bereft of understanding. 
There 1 was at Lilyb.mm, a lady named Agonis, emancipated 
from the service of Venus Kryeina, and before this man's quie- 
storship, in easy and plentiful circumstances. One of Antony's 
lieutenants violently carried off some music-servants of hers, 
under pretence that they were wanted for the fleet. The lady, 
^us is usual in Sicily to all who are or have been in the service 
•of Venus, that she might awe the captain by the name and au- 
thority of the goddeis, told him, that herself and estate were 
the property of Venus. When this came to the knowledge 
of the upright and worthy qiuestor, he ordered Agonis to be 
.cited before him, and instantly appointed commits! oners to 
try, whether she had affirmed, that herself and estate belonged 
to Venus. The conmiifsioners, as was unavoidable, gave their 
.verdict that she had: For nobody pretended to dispute tins 
fact. The quicstor upon this takes pofse&ion of her forum* 



/ 



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 



vis efce drxitVc. Judieant recuperatores id, quod neceise erat ; 
R©que enim erat cttiquaris dubium, quin ilia dixifset. Iste in 
■oisefeionem bonorum mulieris mittit: ipsam Veneri m servitu- 
tcm adjadicat: deinde bona vendit, pecuniam redegit. Itadum 
pauca numcipia, Veneris nomine, Agonis, ac religione retinere 
vult, tort unas omneis, liber tatemque suam istius injuria peraidit. 
Lilybivum Verres venit postea; rem cognoscit: factum mipro- 
oogit qmrstorem suum pecuniam, quam ex Agonidis boms 
redegiiset, earn mulieri omnem annume'rare, et reddere. Est 
adhuc, id quod vos omneis admirari video, ( 2> ) non Verres, sed 
Q. Mucins; quid enim iacere potuit elegantiusad hominum ex- 
istimationem ? a^quius ad levandam mulieris calamitatem ? vehe- 
ment i us ad quccstoris libidinem coercendam? Summeha?c omnia 
mibi videntur else laudanda. Sed repente e vestigio ex homine 
( i6 ) tanquam aliquo Circax) poculo, factns est Verres: redit 
ad se, atque ad mores suos: nam ex ilia pecunia magnam par- 
tem ad se vertit, mulieri reddidit quantulum visum est. 

XVIII. Hie tu, si lsesum te a Verre efse dices; patiar, et con- 
cedam : si injuriam tibi factam quereris; defendam et negabo, 
Deinde de injuria, quae tibi facta sit, neminem nostrum gravio- 
rem vindicem efse oportet, quam teipsum, cui facta dicituv. Si 
tu cum illo postea in ■gratiam rediisti, si domi illius aliquoties 
fuisti, si ille apud te postea Ceenavit, utriim te ( 2 ?) perfidiosum, 
ac prasvaricatorem existimari mavis ? Video esse necefse alteru- 
tram. Sed ego tecum in eo non pugnabo, quo minus, utrum 
velis, eligas. Quid, si ne mjuriae quidem, quae tibi ab illo facta 
sity-causa remanet? Quid habes, quod pofsis dicere, quamobrem 
non modo mini, sed cuiquam anteponare ? nisi forte illud, quod - 
dicturum te efse audio, quaestorem iliius ftiifse, Qiac causa 
gravis efsct, si certares mecum, uter nostrum illi amicior eiVe de- 
beret. In contentione suscipiendarum inimicitiarum, ridiculum 
est, putare causam necefsitudinis ad inferendum pern ulum jus- 
tarn videri oportere. Etenim si.plurimas a tuo Prsetore in 
accepifses; tamen eas ferendo majorem laudem, quam ulcis- 
cendo mcrere. . Cum verd nullum iliius in vita rectius factum 
sit, quam id quod tu injuriam appellas; hi stataent banc 
sam, quam ne in alio quidem probarent, in te, justam ad m 
situdinem violandain videri? qui si summam injuriam ab illo 



(25) No?i Verres, sed Q, Mucins.'] He means, that the. pra?tor acted so 
fyg, not hke Verres, an unjust magistrate, but with the same integrity that 
IMucius would have done. This Q. Mucius, surnamed Scjsvola, was a man 
oi untainted honour, and known goodnefs ; who, for the space of nine 
month?, governed Afsia so much to the satisfaction of the inhabitants, that 
they kept a day m honour of him, which they called aies Mucta, 

(26) Tanquam aliquo Ciraco poculo /actus est Verres."] Cicero here alludet 
to t he-famed story of Circe's cup, which her guests had no sooner drunk 
xhan she touched them with her rod, and ."by "that means changed them 



33 

judges her the slave of Venus, sells her estate, and puts the money 
into his pocket. Thus Agonis, in endeavouring to preserve a 
few slaves under the sanction and authority of Venus, was 
stripped of all her fortunes and liberty by the injustice of this 
man. Some time after Verres comes to Lilybaeum, takes cogni- 
zance of the fact, reverses the decree, and obliges his quaestor 
to refund to the lady all the money that had arisen from the 
sale of her estate. Hitherto I perceive indeed, to your surprise, 
he is not Verres, but Q. Mucins. For, what could he do more 
lovelv in the eyes of mankind, more equitable for the relief of 
the distre&ed lady, or more vigorous to check the avarice of his 
quav-stor ? These/to me, seem all highly worthy of praise. But 
immediately on the spot, as if he had tasted of some enchanted 
cup, he sinks from Mucius into Verres. He returns to himself, 
and his natural disposition. For he converted the greatest part 
of the money to his own use, and restored to the lady what 
little he thought proper. 

• Sect. XVIII. Here, if you say that you suffered by Verres, 
I admit and own it ; but if you complain that you was injured 
by him, I dispute and deny it. I it does not belong to 

any of us to be more keen in prosecuting the injury than your- 
self, who were the person affected by it. If you was afterwards 
reconciled to him ; if you sometimes supped with him, and he 
with you; whether- do you choose to, be thought treacherous, 
or a difsembler ? One of teem you must be. I shall not dispute 
about the matter, but leave it to your own choice. But if the 
verv cause of the injury which you pretend to have received 
no longer subsists, what reafons can you offer, riot only why 
you should be preferred to me, but to any person whatsoever ? 
unlefs perhaps-, as I hear you are resolved to do, that you was 
his quaestor. This indeed would be a good plea, was the con- 
test who should befriend him most. But m a dispute that re- 
<. v ar<ls the right ci i, it is ridiculous to imagine, that 

intimate a tye should be a sufficient reason for your .appear- 
ing against him. Had you even received many injuries from 
your prator, it would yet do you more honour to submit, than 
to revenge them. But when what you term an injury was one 
of the most meritorious actions of his whole life, shall what 
would not be allowed even in an indifferent person, be .esteemed 
a just ground for your violating the relation of qusestor ? Had 



into swine. The praetor's name gave occasion to this piece of low wit in. 
the orator: Verres, in Latin, signifying aa nncastrated hog. 

(27) PcrjWoswn, an prevaricator em^\ Perjidiosus signifies one, who pre- 
tends to be a friend, when he is indeed an enemy. If therefore Cscilius 
be such an one, no trust nor confidence can be reposed in him. Pncvari* 
cat or is a man, who affects the character of an enemy, when in reality he 
is a true friend. If this be the cafe with-Caecilius, he is by no means a 
proper person to have the management of the present cause. 



54 M. T. CICERONIS 0RAT10NES. 

ifeti, tamen quoniam quaestor ejus fuisti, non potes eum 

ulla vituperatione acensare ; si verd nulla tibi facta est m- 

. sine scelere eum accusare nou potes. Quare cum meer- 

tutn sit de injuria., quemquam efse horum putas, qui non malit 

tc sine yituperat^ope> quam cum scelere discedeyer 

\[\. At vide-, quid differat inter meam opinionem ac tuam. 
Tu, cum omnibus rebus interior sis, hac una in re te mihi ante 
fefri putas oportere, quod quaestor illius fueris: ego, si superio? 
auris rebus ©fse's, te hanc imam ob causam aceusatorem repu- 
patavem oportere. Sic enim a majoribus nostris accepimus, 
m-atorem quasi ori suo parentis loco efse oportere: nullani n 
lustiorem, nequc oraviorem causam necefsitudims poise reperiri, 
quaiu conjunctionem sortis, quam provincia, quam oificii, quam 
publicum "muncris societatem, Quamobrem, si jure eum poisis 
acedsare, tanaeo cum is tibi parentis numero fuifset, id pielacere 
non poises : cum vero neque injuriam acceperis, et pra tori tuo 
periculunj crecs, fatearis necefse est, te illi injustum impiumque 
Mlum inter re conari. Etenim ista quastura ad earn rem valet, 
HI elaboranduni tibi in ratione reddenda sit, quamobrem eum. cm 
qua:stor fueris, accuses; non^ut ob earn ipsam causam postuian- 
dum sit, ut tibi. potifsimum accusatio detur. Neque fere unquam 
venit in contcntionem de accusando, qui quaestor .fuifset, quiii 
repudiaretur. ( zs ) Itaque neque L. Pluloni inC. Servilium no- 
ininis deferendi potestas est data, neque M. Aurelio Scauro in 
L. Flaccum, neque Cn. Pompeio iilT. Albucium : quorum nemo 
propter indignitateili repudiatus est: sed no libido violanda ne- 
cefsitudinis auctoritate judicum comprobaretur. Atque die Cn. 
Pompeius ita cum C. Julio contendit, ut tu mecum. Quaestor 
enim Albucii fuerat, ut tu Verris. Julius hoc secum auctoritatis 
ad accusandum afferebat, quod ut hoc tempore nos ab Siculisj 
sic tuna ilie ab Sardis rogatus ad causam accefserat. Semper luce 
causa plurimum valuit: semper hac ratio accusandi fuit bono- 
tiisima, pro sociis, pro salute provincia, pro extcrarmn natiomuu 



f2R) Itaque neque L. Philoni in C. Servilium.'] The examples here pro- 
duced are all of quaestors, who ottering to impeach the magnate* under 
-Aliom they had served, were refused permifsion by ihe people, to whom it 
seemed a bad precedent. Cicero urges them as an argument a< 
Gaecilius's suit, and it must be owned they form a very strong one. "Philo 
was of the plebeian branch of theVeturian family, and quapstorto Serviliiw 
Glaueio, the same who perished with the seditious tribune Aputeius. 

M. AureHus Scaur m.~\ He was a man of great influence in the senate, and 
bad a mighty ascendant over the spirit of Marius, whom he determined 
l» attack Servilius, in the fedition Gefore-mehtibned. 

Cn. Pompeius.'] He means Pompeius Strabo, the father of Pompei trie 
. * at > wil .o bought an accusation against T. Albucius, propraetor of' Sar- 
tlLma "lhis last example quadrates exactly with the case of Cicero and 
Cheilitis. For Strabo, Aibucius's quaestor, endeavoured to wrest the im- 
peachment out oi the hands of Julius, who had been solicited bv Uj 



35 

he injured you in the highest degree, yet to accuse the man un- 
der whom you was qiuestor, would draw after it some censure. 
But if he never really wronged you, it were even criminal to 
accuse hint. Since then the injury is by no means evident, can 
you expect that the judges will not rather you shouid depart 
without blame, than with infamy. 

Sect. XIX. Observe only the difference between your way 
of thinking and mine. You, though inferior in all respects, ima- 
gine you ought to have; the preference, merely on the score of 
being his quaestor. I, on the contrary, were you superior in 
every other qualification, should yet look upon this single cir- 
cumstance as a sufficient reason for sotting you aside. For it 
is a doctrine transmitted to us from Our ancestors, that the 
pra'tor is in place of a parent to his qiuvstor ; that no tie can be 
more sacred and binding than an union founded upon an allot- 
ment of the same province, than a conjunction of office, and 
the common discharge of a public trust. Sliould therefore the 
law admit of your commencing accuser, yet, as he has been to 
you in place of a parent, you cannot act such a part consistent 
with piety. But as he never offered you any real injury, and 
you yet threaten your praetor with a prosecution, you must own 
yourself liable to the charge of a criminal and unjust attack. 
For the nature of the quiestorship is such, as to require your 
giving a reason, why you, who filled that office under him, 
should undertake to become his accuser, but can never be urg- 
ed as an argument for your having the preference in this trial. 
Nay, there is hardly an instance of a dispute of this kind, in 
which the quaestor was not rejected. Accordingly we find, 
that neither was Lucius Philo admitted to plead against Gains 
Servilius, nor Marcus A melius Scaurus again -t Lucius Flaccus, 
nor Cneius Pompey against Titus Albutius: not that they were 
excluded on account of insufficiency ; but to avoid countenancing 
by the authority of the judges the wanton difsolution of a sacred 
tie. Yet the dispute between Cneius Pompey and Caius Ju- 
lius was the very same as that between you and me. Pompey 
had been quaestor to Albutius, as you to Verves. Julius, on the 
other hand, had this plea, that he was solicited to undertake the 
impeachment by the Sardinians, in like manner as I now am 
by the Sicilians. 'Ibis consideration has always had the great- 
est weight; it has ever been esteemed an unexceptionable 
argument in favour of an accuser, when for the interest of the 
allies, the safety of a province, and the benefit of foreign na- 
tions, he has not scrupled to create himself enemies, to expose 



dinians to undertake their cause, in like mamivr as Cicero was by the 
Sieiliawst 



M. T. ■ OICEROJiTXS ORATIONES. 

...ulis inimieitias suscipere, ad periculum accedere, ope- ; 
Kim, stuilium, laborer interponere. 

XX Btenira si probahilis est edrum causa, qui injurias suas 
V vY<c.mi voluut, qua in re dolori suo, non reipub. commodis 
serviunt: quantd ilia causa honestior, quae non solum probabilis 
vidcri, sod etiam grata else debet, nulla privatim accepta inju- 
t\ \ sdciofuffi atque 'amicorum populi Romani dolore atque m- 
jurfcs conmiovevi? Nuper, cum in P. Gabmium H vir fortis- 
simus et inDOcentiisitniis L. Piso delationem nommis postularet, 
& contra. Q. Cheilitis peteret, isque se.veteres inimicitiasjanv 
dm susooptas pe.rscqui diceret ; cum auctoritas et dignitas Piso- 
ddbat plurimum, turn ilia erat causa justifsima, quod eum 
sihi Aehsei patronuni adoptarant. Etenim, cum lex ipsa de pe- 
cuniis vepcrundis, sociornm atque amicorum popult Romani 
causa, oomparata sit; iniquum est, non eum legisjudiciique ac- 
torem idoncum maxime putari, quern actorem causae suae socii, 
deien sore tuque fortimarum suarum potitsimum else voluerunt. 
An quod ad eommeinorandum est honestius, id ad probandum 
noivmulto videri debet aequius? Utra igitur est splendidior, 
ntra illustrior, eommemoratib ? Accusavi eum, quicum quaestor 
rneram, quicum me sors, consuetudoque majorum, quicum me 
Dcorum hominumque judicium conjunxerat. An accusavi ro- 
o-atii sociorum, atque amicorum? delectus sum ab univ r ersa pro- 
\incia, qui ejus jura, tbrtunasque defendereim Dubitare quis- 
quam potest, quin honestius sit, eorum causa, apud quos quaes- 
tor fueris, quam eum cujus quaestor fueris, accusare ? Clani'simi 
vin nostraj civitatis temporibus optimus, hoc sibi ampliisimuni, 
icrrimumqile dueebant, ab hospitibus clientibusque suis, ab 
cxteris nationibus.,' quae in amicitiam populi Rom. ditio.nemque' 
eisent, injurias propulsare, eorumque fortunas defendere. ( 5? - 
Ink Catonem ilium sapientem, clanisimum virum.et prudentiisi- 
tfwtm, cum multis graveis inimieitias gefsiise acccpimus pr 
Kispauorum, apud quos consul fiierat, injurias. Nuper ( ; ') Cn. 

(CO) Vir fori ifsimus et imwcentifsimus L. Piso,~\ The Lucius Pi&o In-re 
mentioned was by profefsion a lawyer, and, when tribune of the ) i 
enacted a law against extortion. He impeached Publ'ms Gabini 
administration in the government of Asia ; and being opposed by Quintuf 
Caeciiius, carried it _ against him, because it appeared that the Acha?<nis 
themselves had applied to him to undertake their cause. It will be 
uarj lo inform the reader, that the Quintus Cheilitis here spok.- 
the same with him who sought a right of accusing Verres ; and that tl 
the G reeks in general were called Actneans, yet the word here is only 
for the inhabitants of Pontus, who accused *Gabfnius of extortion. " 

(30) M. Cair.nem ilium sqpimttem.~] Cato accused Sergius Galba, for' 
plundering the inhabitants of Lusitania, one of the three province 
winch ancient Spain %vas divided, lie likewise, at the instances < 
sa me people, accused Publius Fufius, for setting an immoderate pric« 
corn. By these accusations he procured himself a great man) 



CICERO f S ORATIONS, 37 

himself to dangers, and to interpose with all his abilities, zeal, 
and application. 

Sect. XX. And in truth, if it be justifiable in a man to pro- 
secute another for private injuries, to which he is only prompt- 
ed by his personal sufferings, not by any concern for the wel- 
fare of the state ; how much more noble must it appear, and not 
only justifiable, but even meritorious, where no private injuries 
have' been received, to be roused by the wrongs and sufferings 
of the allies and friends of the Roman people ? Lately, when 
Lucius Piso, a man of the greatest courage and integrity, im- 
peached Publius Gabinius; and Quint us Gecilius endeavoured 
to wrest the cause from him, under pretence of prosecuting ant 
old injury ; though the reputation and merit of Piso had great 
weight with the judges, yet the most decisive circumstance in 
his favour was, that the Ackeaiis had adopted him their patron. 
For, since the law relating to extortion was made in favour of 
the allies and friends of the people of Rome, it is unreasonable 
not to suppose him the fittest prosecutor in an impeachment 
founded on that law, whom those very allies have chosen before 
all others, for the management of their cause, and the defence 
of their fortunes. Has not that which carries the most fair and 
honourable appearance, the justest title to our approbation ? 
Now, which of these declarations is the most illustrious and 
prai se- worthy ? I accuse him to whom I was quaestor; him with 
whom I was connected by lot, by the customs of our ancestors, 
and the decree of gods and men ; or, I accuse at the request of 
the allies and friends of the people of Rome ; I am chosen by 
the whole province, to defend and maintain their rights. Can 
any one entertain a doubt, whether it be not more honourable 
to accuse in favour of those among whom you was quaestor, than 
to accuse a man whose quecstor you was? The most illustrious 
men, in the best times of the commonwealth, have always con- 
sidered it as their greatest and noblest commendation, to re- 
dreis the wrongs and defend the properties of strangers, of their 
own clients, and of foreign nations, the allies and tributaries of 
Rome. It is recorded of Marcus Cato, so distinguished by his 
wisdom, reputation, and prudence, that he drew upon himself 
the powerful enmity of many, on account of the injuries done 
to the Spaniards, amongst whom he had been while consul. 



(31.) Cn. DomitiwnM. Silano diem dixifse.~] This Domitius accused M. 
Silanus, a man of consular dignity, on account of some injuries he had 
done to one Egritomarus; of whom we have no other account, than what 
Cicero gives us in this pafsage. We are to take notice here of the diffe- 
rence between diem dicere, and accusare. The former was used in respect 
of magistrates and persons in public office, the latter was appropriated to 
.lie impeachments brought by private men. 

2 



38 M. T. CICERONIS ORAttOKES. 

Domitium scimus M. Silano diem dixifse propter uniu* 
hominis Egritomari, paterni aniici atque hospitis, injurias. 

XXI. Neque enim magis animos hominum nocentium res un- 
quam ulla commovit, quam b«ee major um consuetude), lonc;o 
intervallo repetita atque relata; sociorum quenmoniae delatm- ad 
hominem non inertifsmium, suscepta^ab eo, qui videbatur eorum 
for tunas fide, diligentiaque sua pofse defendere. Hoc timerit 
homines, hoc laborant : hoe instkui, atque adeo institutum re- 
ferri, ac renovari moleste terunt : putant fore, uti si paulatiru 
haec consuetudo serpere, ac prodire coeperit, per homines ho- 
nestii'simos, virosque fortifsimos, non imperkos adolescentulos, 
aut illiusmodi quad rupl a tores, leges, judieiaque administrentur. 
Cujus consuetudinis, atque instituti patres majoresque nostros 
non pa'nitebat turn, cum ( v ) P. Lentulus, is qui princeps 
senatus fait, acensabat M. Aquilium, subscriptore O. Rutilio 
llufo, aut cum ( J3 ) P. AlVicanus homo virtute, fortuna, gloria, 
rebus gestis amplifsimus, posteaquam bis consul et censor iuerat, 
L. Cottam in judicium vocabat. Jure turn rlorebat popnh Ro- 
mani nomen: jure auctoritas hujus imperii, civitatisque majes- 
tas gravis habebatur. Nemo mirabatur in Africano 1II0, quod 
in me nunc homine parvis opibus, ac facultatibus praedito simu- 
lant sese mivari, cum moleste ierant. (*♦) Quid sibi iste vult? 
accusatoremne se existimari, qui antea defendere consueverat ? 
nunc prasertim, ea jam State, cum avdditatem petat ? Ego vero 
et aitatis non modo meu", sed multo etiam superioris, et honoris 
amphfsimi puto efsc, et accusare improbos, et miseros calami- 
tososque defendere. Et profecto aut hoc remedium est e egrotae, 
ac propc desperatse reipub; judieiisque corrupris, ac contamina- 
tis paucorum vitio ac turpitudine, homines ad legum detensio- 
nem, judiciorumque auctontatem, quam honestifsimos etintegcr- 



(3'2) P. Lentulus, pr triceps senatus, accusabatM. Aquili;wi.~\ This Lentu- 
lus was the father of Lentulus Sura, who was strangled in prison, for being 
embarked in the conspiracy of Cataline. The dignity ol* prince Qf the se- 
nate, with which the orator here informs us he was invested, entitled Mm 
to the privilege ff giving his opinion lir>t in all debates. He wa* connnon- 
ly the oldest member in the senate, whose name appeared first upon the. 
roll and enjoyed this honour during life. M. Aquilius, here mentioned} 
was accused by Lentulus of extortion, and defended by Antony, who drew 
aside his garment, and showed the scars of those wounds lie had received 
for the republic, in the war with the slaves in Sicily. 

(33) P. AJricanus L Cottam in judicium vocabat.} L. Cotla was accused 
by P. Africanus, after he had been twice consul and censor, lie was de- 
fended by Q. Metelius Macedbmcus; and as Cicero informs us in his ora- 
tion for Murena, was acquitted by the people, not so much on account of 
his innocence, as that he might not aeum to have fallen a victim to the 
powei - and credit of bis adversary. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 39 

We all know, that Cneius Domitius lately impeached Ma|CUs 
Silanus, for the wrongs offered to a single person, Egritomarus 
by name, the friend and host of his father. 

Sect. XXI. Nor indeed has any thing so much of late alarmed 
the minds of guilty men, as this custom of our ancestors, re- 
peated and renewed after a long discontinuance. To see the 
complaints of our allies laid before a man of activity, and their 
cause undertaken by one likely to defend their interests with 
integrity and spirit^ fills them with dread and terror. They 
are sorry that a such a custom should ever have taken place, 
but still' more so, that it is revived and repeated. They begin to 
apprehend, that, should the practice insinuate and gain ground, 
the administration of law and justice must pais through the hands 
of men of integrity and courage, not of bcardlefs boys, and a 
rabble of mercenary pleaders. Our fathers and forefathers were 
hot ashamed of this institution, whenPublius Lentulus, prince of 
the senate with Caius Rutilius Rufus for his solicitor, accused 
Marcus Aquilius: or when Publius Africanus, a man eminently 
distinguished by his virtue, fortune, reputation, and military 
exploits, after fie had been twice consul and censor, impeached 
Lucius Cotta. The Roman name was then deservedly famous: 
the dignity of this empire, and the majesty of the republic, were 
justlv held in veneration. No one wondered at that in the great 
Africanus, which they who are difsatisried with this proceeding, 
affect now to. treat with surprise in me, a man so much beneath 
him in rank and fortune. What does he mean ? say they. The 
man who has hitherto been accustomed to defend;, would he now 
pais for an accuser, especially at an age when he is suing for 
the tedileship?.* But I think it an honour not only at my time of 
life, but even at a much more advanced age, to accuse the wicked, 
and defend the wretched and miserable. And indeed, either it is a 
rem e dy for a languishing and almost incurable administration, 
groaning under the corruption and vices of few, that men of itite- 

(34) Quid sibi iste vult.~] The question relating to the accuser bfiVerres 
-was of more importance than at first sight it may seem. Had it only re- 
garded the point of preference between Cicero and Ca-'eilius, it would 
have been no hard matter to determine it. But the great men at Rome 
were for discouraging accusations for mal-adrninistration in the govern- 
"rnent of provinces, as being almost all involf ed in the same guilt. To this 
end they used their utmost endeavours to hinder impeachments from tail- 
ing into the hands of able and faithful men, as hoping by this means to 
render them ineffectual, and bring them into discredit and contempt. ThB 
was the real difficulty Cicero had to encounter, of which he fails not to" 
give frequent hints in his fpeech. His adversaries however gave the matter 
a different turn^ affecting to wonder, that one who had hitherto employed 
himself only in defending causes, should turn accuser, and thereby draw 
upon himself many powerful enemies; especially at a time when he was 
running the career of public honours,having discharged the office of qua?stor, 
■and preparing now to sue for the, eedileship. But Cicero despised these 



40 M. T. ClCEROJJIs ORATIONES. 

rimos dili^entiisimosque accedere: aut si ne hoc quidem prod- 
efse poterit, profecto nulla unquam medicina his tot inconmio- 
dis reperietur. Nulla salus reipubl. major est, quam eog, qui 
alterum, accusant, non minus de laude, de honore, de fama 
sua, quam illos, qui accu.-santur, de capite, ac fortanis suis per- 
timiscere. Itaque semper li diligentifsime laboriosifsinn 
accusarunt, qui se ipsos in discrimen existimationis venire ar- 
bitrati sint. 

XXII. Quamobrem hoc statuere, judices, dcbetis, Q. Ca , cilium > 
de quo nulla unquam opinio fuerit, nullaque in hoc ipso judicio 
exspectatio futura sit, qui neque ut ante coiiectam famam oon- 
servet, nequi uti reliqui temporis spem conmniec, laborat. 
nimis hanc causam severe, non nimis accurate, non nimis dili- 
genter acturum. Habet c:::m nihil, quod in olYensione dej 
dat: ut turpiisime, tfagitiosiisimequc dibcedat, nihil (?•] 
suis veteribus ornarnentis requirct. A nobis multos ob- 
habet populus Rom. quos ut incolumes conscrvare, tueri, ( 
firmare, ac recuperare pofsimus, omni ratione erit dimicandum ; 
habet honorem, quern pciinms: habet spem, quam propositam 
nobis habemus; habet fexi$fciai*tiooean multo sudor. . vj- 

giliisque collectam: ut, si in hac causa nostrum ohHcium, ac 
diligentiam prohaverimus, luce, quai clixi, rotinere per pop. 
Rom. incolumia ac salva pokiinus; si tantulum oiiensum, titu- 
batumque sit, ut ea, qua; singulatim, ac diu collecta sunt, uno 
tempore universa perdiuims. Quapropter. judk nm 

est ddigere, quem existimetis fiicillime poi'te magnitudineni 
causae, ac judicii sustinere fide, diligentia, consilio, auctonr.. 
Vossi mihiQ,. Gecilium antuposuentis, ego me dignira? 
atum non arbitrabor : populus Romanus ne tarn hone>tani, * 
severam, dihgeoutemque a , Deque 

neque ordiiii vestro placers arbitretur, prov-flletc. 



insinuations, ns knowing tint he could not mo; ! ! y recommend 

himself to the favour of the better sort of the Romai 

candid, faithful, and diligent behaviour, in the course of the pr< 

he had undertaken to mai 

(33) De suis ornam&itis, rcquir . \. e. amiji f. He 

can suffer no detriment by betraying the cause, bec; use he has nolhh 
lose. Cicero uses this as an argument against Care bus, and in his own 
favour. There were no sufficient ties upon Caxnlius, to bind him to I 
lity and diligence; whereas (he Romans had many pledge* i : the 

honour of the zdileship, for which he ha • the 

hope of tiie prsetorship and consulate, to which he had the ambili 
aspire: the reputation he had atrea red, and the growing ex;' 

ation of the public in his favour. Ail these were powerful moll 
could not fad to animate him with unommon industry and zi 
was sensible that the least slip would endanger (he loft of all he had 
acquired, and destroj his expectations for the future. The argument 
must be owned, is strong ana cOnclui 



Cicero's Orations. • 41 

grity, honour, and application, should take upon them the de- 
fence of the laws, and the revival of public justice; or, if even 
this be found ineffectual, it is in vain any longer to hope for 
redrefs. Nothing tends more to the preservation of a state, 
than for an accuser to be no lefs tender of his reputation, ho- 
nour, and fame, than the accused is solicitous about his life and 
fortunes. Accordingly we find, that such as were the most 
jealous of their own characters, liave always proved the most 
diligent and indefatigable accusers. 

Sect. XXII. Therefore, my Lords, you have reason to be- 
lieve, that Quintus Csecilins, a man of no reputation, from whom 
very little is expected in the present trial, who has neither any 
fame already acquired to preserve, nor any future expectations 
to confirm, will not acquit himself in this cause, with the in- 
dustry, vigour, and severity it requires. For he can lose no- 
thing by a repulse. Should we even suppose him shamefully 
and scandalously baffled, all his former merit will still remain. 
Of me the Roman people have many pledges, which I must 
strive with my utmost endeavours to preserve, to defend, to 
confirm, and to redeem. They have the honour for which I 
am now a candidate: they have the hope that animates all my 
pursuits : they have a reputation too, acquired with much 
sweat, watching, and toil. If 1 give proof of my fidelity and 
diligence in this cause, all these will remain sure and inviolable 
in the hands of my country; but if I trip or stumble in the 
least, the acquisitions of a whole life will be destroved in one 
moment. Therefore, my Lords, it remains for you to pitch 
upon the man whom you think best qualihed, by his integrity', 
diligence, wisdom, and authority, to sustain the weight of this 
proseeution. Should the preference be given to Gecilius, I 
shall not think my character in the least affected by such a sen- 
tence: but take care that the people of Rome have not too 
much reason to believe, that so upright, so severe, and so vi- 
gorous an impeachment, was neither agreeable to you, .nor to 
those of your order. 



1) 



ORATIO II. 



PRO LEGE MAN i LI A*. 



I. /~\UAMQUAM mihi semper frequens conspectus vester 
V^ iiiulto jucundiisimus ; (1.) liic autem locus ad agen- 
dum amplifsimus, ad dicendum omatifsimus est risus, Qui- 
rites! ( 2 ) tamen hoc aditu laudis, qui semper optimo cuique 
maxime patuit, non mea me voluntas, sed ineic vitse rationes 
ab ineunte delate susceptac prohibuerunt. Nam, cum antca 
per a:tatem nondum hujus auctoritatem loci contingere au- 
derem ; statu eremqile, nihil hue, nisi perfectum ingenfol 
elaboratum mdustria, afferri opbrtcrc ; omne meum terrrpus 
amicorum temporibus transmittendum putavi. Ita nequc hie lo- 
cus vacuus unquam fuit ab iis qui vc.^tram caufam defendercnt ; 



* In the consulship of M. .I'milius and L Volcalius; L. Lucull 
in quality of proconsul had continued almost Bevei the head oi 

Konian army in Asia Minor, and obtained many signal victories o\ 
dates, was recalled by a decree of the Senate. A> the war was not vet 1 
feci, there was a riecelsity for sending some other gene ral to supply hi> pi 
C. Manilius, a tribvine of the people, | 

to t hat important rommifsion. This propolal met with great opposition 
cause Vompcy having already the command of the piratical .Mir, with a 
extensive authority, many Romans of distinction thought it would bi 
gerous to trust so much power in the hands of one p< who 

seems to have entertained a high opinion bf Pompey i honour ami probity, 
and considered him as the only man In the commonwealth 
a war of that importance, was zealous for th< 
and in his speech endeavoured to support it wit . 

quence. lie begins with explaining the nature and imp' the 

Mithridatic war, and says every thing that might serve t> 
people to continue and pursue it with vigour. Thei the 

choice of a general, he enters into so beautiful a detail of I 
merit and qualifications, that [question whether there be any hist i) where 
the character o( that great man is s*i well drawn. In the fequel th« 
pafsed, though Catullus and Mortensius, two of the most -able 

men in Rome, and both raters, were ami 

that opposed it. Pompey was sent against Mitbridates, wi . a mor 
tensive command than had been granted even to Lueullus-, 
leveral other provinces, being included in his commits 
his orders in Cilicia, where he was employed in putting the lo the 

war against the pirates; by the succefsful conclusion of which, he n stored 
;lje Roman commonwealth to her woutcd power and splendour, which 



ORATION II. 



FOR THE MANILIAN LAW. 



Sect. I. f T\HOUGH your crowded afsemblies, Romans, 
A be always a grateful sight to me ; though this 
place appears the most conspicuous for counsel, and the 
most honourable for debate; yet not choice, but the way of 
life I have been engaged in from my early youth, have 
I hitherto excluded me from this theatre of praiie, ever open 
to the worthy and the wise. For as till now I had not reached 
the age necefsary to entitle me to so distinguished an ho- 
nour, and as I judged nothing worthy of this tribunal, in 
which the most consummate genius and industry were not 
conspicuous ; I thought it best to dedicate my whole time to 
the concerns of my friends. Accordingly this place has always 



ill conduct of her generals abroad, and the rernifsnefs of the administration 
at home, had of late considerably unpaired. This oration was delivered 
from the tribunal of harangues, being the first time of Cicero's appearance 
in that place; for hitherto he had pleaded only private causes in the prsc- 
xor's court. It was spoken in the six hundred and eighty-seventh year of 
Rome, and the forty-rirst of Cicero's age, soon after his election" to the 
:praetorship. 

(1) Hie locus.~\ Cicero here means the rostra, or tribunal of harangues, 
which was situated in the Forum, and adorned with the beaks of ships^ 
whence it had its name. Livy, speaking of it in his eighth book, says, 
Naves Antiatum parti m in navalia Ro?nce subductce, partim iricensa: : Jtos- 
frisqua earum suggestum in foro cxtructum adamari placuit, rosiraque id 
Umplum appcUatum. This place was set apart for enacting laws, pleading 
causes, and delivering speeches to the people Here, none were allowed 
to speak, but men of the first note, and such as bore offices of dignity in 
(he state. In the rostra the speaker addicted himself to thvi people only, 
and was obliged to study a very different manner of speaking from that in 
use before the judges. The people were to be botii instructed and pleased, 
which required all the eloquence and ornaments of language: The judges 
were only to be informed, and therefore a concise and simple style wa& 
necefsary before them. 

(2) Quirites-] This was an appellation given to the Roman people in 
general, from the Curetes, a people that removed to Rome with Tatius, 
from Cures a Sabine ci<y. For a fierce war commencing between Romulus 
and Tatius, on occasion of the rape of the Sabine virgi.s, peace was at 
length concluded on these terms: That Romulus and Tatius should 
reign jointly over both people: that the city should be called Rome, from 
Romulus; and the citizens Quirites, from'Cures. The word comes ori- 
ginally from curis, or quiris, which, in the language of the Sabmes, signified 
a dart; and was a weapon greatly in use among that people. 

D2 



44 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

et meus labor in privatorum periculis caste integreque versati 
ex vestro judicio iVuctum est amplilsimum consecutus. Nam 
cum propter dilationem comitiorum ( 3 ) ter praetor primus cen- 
turiis cimctis renuntiatus sum; facile inteliexi, Quirites, et quid 
de me judicaretis, et quid ams praescriberetis. Nunc cum et 
auctoritatis in me tantum sit, quantum vos honoribus mandandis 
efse voluistis; et ad agendum faeultatis tantum, quantum homini 
vigilanti ex forensi usu prope quotidiana dicendiexercitatio po- 
tuit afferre: certe, etsi quid auctoritatis in me est, ea apud eos 
ntar, qui earn mini dederunt ; et si quid etiam dicendo ccnsequi 
poisum,iis ostendam potifsimum, qui ei quoque rei fructum suo 
judicio tribuendum efe censuerunt. Atque illud in primis mihi 
liEtandum jure else video, quod in hac insolita mihi ex hoc loco 
ratione dicendi, causa talis oblata est, in qua oratio nemini de- 
eise potest. Dicendum est enim de Cn. Pompeii_^sin£iilari 
eximiaque virtute : hujus autem orationis difficilius est exitum, 
quam principium invenire. Itaque non mihi tarn copia, quasi 
modus in dicendo quxrendus est. 

II. Atque ut inde oratio mea proficiscatur, uncle hac omnis 
causa dicitur; helium grave et perieulosum vestris vectigalibus 
afque sociis ( 4 ) a duobus potentifsimis regibus infertur, Xlithri- 
date, etTigrane: quorum alter relictus, alter laceisicus, ocea- 
sionem sibi ad occupandam Asiam oblatam efse arbitratur. 
"KquitibusRomanis, honeftifsimis viris, after untur ex Asia quotidie 
■Jiterae, quorum magna: res aguntur, in veitris vectigalibus e&er- 
cendis occupatae; qui ad me pro necefsitudine, qua- mihi est 
cum illo ordine, causam reipublicse, periculaque rerum suarum 



(3) Ter prcttar primus centuriis cutictis retnwtialus fwn ] The praetor 
was a magistrate, to whom belonged the adminifiration of juftice. At firft 
only one was created, then two, in the time of Sylla eight, and last of all 
ten. Of these prxlors tuo had the management of private trials commit- 
ted to them; one, the city praetor, who judged between fellow-citizen^ ; 
the other the foreign praetor, who took cognizance of the affairs of ftraiigers. 
'4 he other eight were criminal judges, and had each his particular province. 
Two were appointed to decide in cases of murder; one of extortion ; ci.e 
of embezzling the public money ; oneof corruption; one of fraud; oik- of 
treason ; and cue of violence. Cicere here t« lis us, thai he vrfll* thrice de- 
clared first praetor by all the centuries. Not that there was any inequality 
or difference of dignity between the pnetors,. but he who was iirsi vhose'n 
to that office by 'he people, was judged on that account to have the pre- 
ference in thek favour, Plutarch, in his life of Cicero, tells us, that he 
had to struggle with many candidates of the first dignity, from ail whom 
he neverthelds carried the honour of the first nomination. Hence, in his 
book ck ciaris oratcribits, speaking of himself, he says, Atque ut mutt a 
omittam, in hocspatio, et in his post adititatem anrtis, et prtetor primus, ct 
iua-cdibili populuri vol imitate suvi /actus. 

(1) A driobus ' potentifsimus Ttgibus.*\ They are deservedly styled power- 
ful by the orator, whether we consider the extent of their dominions, or 
their renown in war. Mithidrates, though originally no more than king 



45 

abounded with able pleaders in the cause of the republic : and 
my talents, employed in the defence of private citizens, have by 
your suffrages been crowned with a glorious reward, * For when 
by reason of the adjournment of the comitia, I found myself 
thrice chosen first praetor by all the centuries,/it was easy for me 
thence to collect, both what your sentiments ^of me were, and 
what qualifications you required in others. Jr Now that I am 
clothed with all that authority which is annexed to the offices 
you have honoured me with; and as my talents for businefs are 
such as the conusant exercise of pleading may produce in a man 
of industry ; be ai'sured, that whatever authority I pofsefs, ihall 
be exerted in behalf of those from whom I derived it; and if 
my eloquence carries any weight, I will display it chiefly to 
those who have thought it worthy of reward. And here I think 
I may justly congratulate myself, that, unaccustomed as I am to 
harangue in this manner, and from this place ; a subject presents 
itself, on which it is impofsible not to be eloquent. I am to 
speak of the singular and amazing virtues of Pompey ; a theme 
where I {hall find it more difficult to know when to stop, than 
how to begin : j and where my principal study must be, not to 
search for materials, but to set bounds to my orations. 

Sect. II. But that my discourse may run back to the source 
of the present debate ; an important and dangerous war is car- 
ried on against your tributaries and allies, by two very posverful 
monarchs, Mithridates and Tigranes : of whom the one being 
provoked, and the other not pushed after his defeat; they think 
a favourable opportunity offers to pofsefs themselves of all Asia. 
Letters are daily brought from that quarter to the Roman 
knights, men of character and eminence, who have a great in- 
terest in the collection of your revenues; and on account of my 
near connection with their order, have thought proper to lay 



ofPontus, found means, by his valour, to render himself master of all 
Asia Minor, and great part of Greece. Cicero, in his Lucullus, pronounces 
him the greatest of kings, next to Alexander. He was vanquished and re 
stricted to his hereditary dominions by Sylla : but renewing the war again, 
after his death, Lucullus wa« sent against him, who defeated him in feveral 
battles, and in the last yjpuld infallibly have made him prisoner, had not 
the soldiers, instead of continuing the pursuit, abandoned themselves 
to the desire of plunder. This gave him an opportunity of efcaping 
to his fon-in-law, Tigranes, who reigned in Armenia, and is by Plutarch 
styled the king of kings. His power was so great, that having driven the 
Parthians out of Asia, he transplanted the Greek states into Media, and 
ruled Syria and Palestine. Lucullus notwithstanding summoned him to 
deliver up Mithridates; and upon his refusal, pushed him so vigorously, 
that, after taking pofsefsion of Tigranocerta, the city of his own residence, 
he. twice routed his numerous forces, and obliged him to the fly i$t© 
skirts of Armenia. 

DS 



4& M. T~ CICERONIS ORATI05TES. 

dctuleruut: ( ; ) Bithyriise, quae nunc vestra provincia est, vice* 
exustos else complurcis: ( 6 ) regnum Ariobarzanis, quod finiti- 
mum est vestis vcctigalibus, totum efse in hostium potestate : 
Lucullum, magnis rebus gestis, ab eo hello discedere: huic qui 
suceurrerit, non satis else paratum ad tantum bellum adunuis- 
trandum: unum ab omnibus soeiis et civib'us ad id bellum im- 
peratorem deposci, atque expeti: eunduui hunc unum ab ho.— 
tibus metiri, prreterea ueminem. Causa qua- sit, videtis; nunc 
quid agendum sit considerate, Primum mihi videtur de geherfe 
belli, dein.de de magnitudine, turn de imperatore defigenao efse 
diceiicluiii. Genus est enim ejusmodi, quod roaxmie vestros 
animos excitare, atque iurlammare debet . in quo agitur populi 
Romani gloria, qua; vobis a majoribus cum magna in rebus om- 
?iibus, turn siimma in re militari tradita est : agitur salus socio- 
rum, atque amicorum, pro qua multa majorcs vestri magi' 
gravia bella gefserunt : aguntur eertifsima populi Komani v 
galia, et maxima ; quibus amiisis, et pacis ornamenta, et subsidia 
belli requiretis: aguntur bona multorum civium, quibus est a 
vobis, et ipsorum, et reipublicne causa consukTxlum. 

III. Et quoniam semper appetentes gloria- pnutur cateras 
genteis, atque avidi laudis fuistis, delcnda est vobis ilia macula, 
( 7 ) Mithridatico bello superiore susccpta: qua' penitus jam in- 
sedit, atque inveteravit in populi Komani nomine : quod is, qui 
lino die, tota Asia, tot in civitatibus, uno nuntio, atque uua lite- 
rarum signiticatione, cives Romano? nccandos tnicidandoscjuc 
denotavit, non modo ad hue pa-nani nullam mjo dig leref 

suscepit, sed ab illo tempore annum jam tertium I '111111 

regnat \ et ita regnat, ut se non Pontq, Deque Capadocia: late- 
. foris occultare wlit ; scd emcrgere e patrio 
tris vectigalibus, hoc est, in Asia; luce versari. hltenim adhuc 



(5) BithynU'y m provincia est."] Nicomedes, surnamed PbV 

lopater, the son oithat Nicoinedes, who upon the death bfhis father Prusias, 
took poi'sei>ion o.f the Kingdom, of Hithvnia, being c\pe] : unions 

bv Shthridates, was again restored I)} Sylla. In gratitude servicer, 

chancing to die >omc s ears after, name!) in the ( I b.tavius and 

C'ottu, lie Tvft the Roman people heir to his kingdom, which the republic 
reduced into- the form of a province. 

Regnum J ] Cappadocia, whence he was twii 

bv Mituridatcs and as often restored by the Romans. J. 
called bv a decree ol* the Senate, Mithrid. 1 at* hU 

kingdom; and enjoyed it till Pbfnpev, alter the total defeat 01" him and 
Tigranes, restored Ariobar/anes a third time 

(7) Mithridatico btlfo siiperivre J 'Ibis broke out in the consulship 01 
Q. Ponipeius ai ! L. Sylla. In the very, beginning of Ibis war, Mithrinafes 
ppius the proconsul iuio his naiiLb, put him in irons, He 
Marcnis Auuitius; and setting him upon an afs, 
ryer, who proclaimed his approach by his name, ordered him 
d to Pergamus; where he no toonef arrived,, than melt< - 
red down his throat. He then seat letter? to all the govern 



CICERO^ ORATIONS* 47 

before rne the cause of the republic, and the danger to which 
their own private fortunes are exposed : that in Bithynia, now 
a Roman province, a great number of villages are burnt down : 
that the kingdom of Ariobarzanes, which borders on your tribu- 
taries, is wholly in the power of your enemy : that Lucullus, 
after a series of great exploits, is about to relinquilh that war : 
that his succefsor is but ill provided for the execution of so dif- 
ficult an enterprise ; and that the unanimous voice of citizens 
and allies, points at and demands one person for the conduct of 
this war, as the only man alive who strikes terror into our ene- 
mies;. You fee then the point in question : it now remains for 
you to consider what is fit to be done. To me it seems neces- 
sary to speak, first of the nature, then of the greatnefs of the 
war, and lastly of* the choice of a general. The nature of the 
war is such as ought to rouze all your courage, and kindle your 
warmest resentment. It regards the glory of the Roman peo- 
ple, which your ancestors have transmitted with so much lustre 
in all things, but principally in the science of arms. It regards 
the safety of your friends and allies, in defence of which your 
forefathers have sustained many heavy and dangerous wars. 
It regards the surest and fairest revenues of the commonwealth, 
without which we can neither support peace with dignit}*, nor 
furnish the necefsary expenses during war. In fine, it regards 
the private fortunes of many illustrious citizens, whose pro- 
sperity demands your utmost attention, both on their own and 
the republic's account. 

Sect. IIL And because the thirst of glory, and pafsion for 
fame, has been always stronger in you, than in any other peo- 
ple ; you must wipe, out that stain contracted in the last Mithri- 
datic war, which has given so deep and dangerous a wound to 
the reputation of the Roman people : that the man who in one 
day, over all Asia, through so many states, by a simple cornier, 
and the contents of a single letter, marked out the Roman 
citizens to butchery and destruction, has not only hitherto 
escaped without auv suitable punishment, but now Counts the 
twenty-third year of his reign from that period : a reign too so 
prosperous, that instead of seeking to hide himself in Pon- 
tus, and the fastneises of Cappadocia, he has broke through 
the limits of his paternal inheritance, and riots among your tri- 
butary provinces, in the rich and fertile country of Asia. For 



the Asiatic provinces, enjoining them, on the thirtieth day after the receipt 
of the said letter, to mafsacre all the Romans and Italians in their several 
districts, without regard to age or sex ; and to leave their bodies uriburied, 
a prey to the wild beasts. Upon this so great an execution ensued, that 
upwards of an hundred and fiftv thousand were slain in one day. 

Di 



48 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ita vestri cum illo rege contenderunt imperatores, ut ab illo 
insignia victoria 1 , non victoriam reportarmt. * Triumphavit 
L. Sulla, triumphavit L. Muncua de Mithridate, duo fortifsimi 
viri, et summi imperatores : sed ita triumpharunt, ut ille pulsus 
superatusque regnaret. Verumtamen illis imperatoribus laus 
est tribucnduj quod egerunt : veuia dauda, quod reliquerunt : 
propterea quod ab eo bello (*) Sullam in Italiam respublica, 
Munenam Sulla revocavit. 

IV. Mithridates autcm omne reliquum tempus, non ad ob- 
livionem veteris belli, sed ad comparationem novi contulit: qui, 
posteaquam maximas yediftcafset, ornafsetque clafseis, exercitus- 
que permagnbs, quibuscumque ex gentibns potuifset comparas- 
set,et se Bosphoranis, iiriitiiiiis suis, bellum inferre simulafset ; 
usque, in Hispanicim legates Ecbatanis misit ad eos duces, qui- 
buscum turn -beiium gerebaiuus : ut, cum duobus in locis dis- 
jimctiisimis, maximeque diversis, uuo consilio, -a biuis liostium 
copiis bellum terra marique gereretur, vos ancipiti contentione 
districti de imperio dimicaretis. Sed tamen alterius partis pe- 
riculum, ( 9 ) Sertorianae atque Hi^paniensis, qua; multd plus 
firmamenti ac roboris habebat, Cn. Pompeii divino consilio, ac 
singulari virtute depulsum est : in altera parte ita res a L. Lu- 
cullo summo viro est administrata, ut initia ilia gestarum rerum 
magna atque pntclara, non felicitati ejus, sed virtuti: hsfec au- 
tem extrema, quae nuper acciderurit, non culpa?, sed fortunse 
tribuenda efse videantur. Sed de Lucullo dioam alio loco, et 
ita dicam, Quirites ! ut neque vera laus ei detracta oratione nos- 
tra, neque falsa afficta efse videatur. De vestri imperii digni- 
tate, atque gloria, quoniam is est exorsus orationis mece, videte 
quern vobis animum suspiciendurn putetis. 

V. Majores vestri sa?pe mercatoribus ac naviculatoribus inju- 
riosius tractatis, bella gefserunt : vos tot civium Rom. rnillibus 



(8) Sullam in Italiam, respublica] Murienam Sulla revocavit. 1 ] While Sylla 
was engaged in the Mithridatic war, the fa&ion of Marius and Cinna pre- 
vailing at Rome, great disturbances ensued, and many of the most con- 
siderable men of the commonwealth were killed. This obliged Sylla to 
conclude a peace hastily with Mithridates, that he might be the sooner at 
liberty to return to Home to quell these tumults. Murana being left behind 
as Syria's lieutenant in Asia, to see to the execution of the treaty of peace, 
and settle the affairs of those provinces, was not over scrupulous .with re- 
gard to Mithridates ; but, fired with the love of military glory, at, first un- 
dertook small, and afterwards greater expeditions against him. Where- 
upon Sylla, thinking it inconsistent with the Roman name, not to stand to 
the articles of peace, recaPed Murcena out of Asia. 

• (9) Sertoriarue atque Hispaniensis.'] Seitorius, a partlzan of Marius, upon 
Sylla's return to Italy, fled with Cinna into Spain ; where having gained 
many nations in those parts to kis interest, he supported the- Marian cause 



4* 

hitherto your generals have fought in such a manner with thU 
prince, as to carry off ..the trophies of victory, not victory itself. 
L. Sylla triumphed ; L. Murena triumphed over Mithridates; 
both brave men, and accomplished commanders: .but their tri- 
umphs were such as to leave him, after all his loises and defeats, 
in full pofseision of royalty. Neverthelefs these generals deserve 
praise for what they did, and pardon for what they left undone : 
for the concerns of the commonwealth recalled Sylla:, and 
Sylla himself recalled Murena from the prosecution of that 
war. 

Seqt. IV. But Mithridates employed the interval that follow- 
ed, not in endeavours to blot out the memory of the ancient 
quarrel, but in concerting measures to renew the war: and, 
after building and equipping vast fleets ; levying great armies 
"in all the countries whence troops could be had ; and causing a 
report to be spread, that his design was to make war upon the 
people of Bosphorus, his neighbours; he sent ambassadors from 
Ecbatana into Spain, to treat with the generals then at war with 
the republic: that obliging you to make head both by sea and 
land, against two mighty enemies acting in concert, and in 
provinces so very remote and distant from each other, you may 
tind yourselves embarrafsed by the double attack, and be re- 
duced to the necefsity of fighting for your empire. But one 
part of this storm, which proceeded from Sertorius and Spain, 
and was by far the most formidable and threatening, was difsi- 
pated by the divine conduct and singular valour of Pompey : 
and in the other scene of action, aftairs were so managed by 
Lucullus, that great and illustrious commander, that his glorious 
succefses in the beginning may be justly attributed to his pru- 
dence, not to his good fortune ; whereas those later disasters, 
which have since befallen him, seem purely the work of chance, 
and are not imputable to his misconduct. (TBut of Lucullus. I 
will speak elsewhere, and speak in such a manner, Romans, as 
neither to deprive him of any due praise, nor load him with 
false commendations. At present, as the chief design of my 
speech is the honour and dignity of your empire, see what 
ought to be your resentments upon this occasion. 

Sect. V. Your forefathers often engaged in a war, to revenge 
the insults offered to their merchants and seamen. How then. 



with great bravery, and frequently routed the Roman armies. But being 
proscribed by Sylla, and betrayed by Marcus Aritonius, Marcus 
rerpenna, and some others who had conspired his destruction, he was 
slain at an entertainment in the six hundred arid eighty first year of the 
Citv. 



50 M< T-. CICERONIS OlcATIONES* 

uno nuntio, atque uno tempore necatis, quo tandem anlmo efse 
tlebetis? levari (mod erant ( ,c ) appellati superbius, Corinthum 
patres vestri, totius Granite lumen, extinetum efse voluerunt ;: 
Vos enm regem imikum else patiemini, qui legatum populi Horn, 
consularem, vinculis ac verberibus, atque omni supplieio excru- 
ciatum necavit? Uli iibertatem civium Rom. imminutam non 
tulerunt: vos vitain ereptain negligetis? Jus legationis verbo 
riolatum illi persecuti sunt: vos legatum populi Rom. omni 
supplicio intcrfectum, inultum relinquetis ? Videte ne, ut illis 
pulcherrimum fait taritam vobis imperii gloriam relinquere, sic 
vobis turpilsimum sit, illud quod accepistis, tueri et conservare 
non poise. Quid, quod salus sociorum summum in pericujum 
ac discrimen vocatur! Regno ^xpulsus est Ariobarzanes rex, 
socius populi Romani atque amicus : imminent duo reges toti 
Asia-, non solum vobis inimicii'simi, sed etiam vestris sociis atque 
amicis: civitates autem omnes, cuncta Asia, atque Gracia, ves- 
trum auxilium expectare, propter periculi magnuudinem cogun- 
tur : imperatorem a vobis certuni deposcere, cum prasertim vos, 
alium miseritis, neque audent, neque se id facere sum mo sine 
periculo pofse arbitrantur : vident, et sentiunt hoc idem, quod 
et vos, unum virum efse, in quo summa sint omnia, et eum prope 
efse (quo etiam carent agrius) cujus adveirtu ipso,, atque nomine, 
tametsi ille ad maritimum bellum venerit, tamen impetus hostium 
reprefsos efse inteliigunt, ac retardatos. Hi voSj quoniam libere 
loqui non licet, tacite rogant, ut se quoque,sicut catarum pro- 
vinciarum socios, dignos existemetis, quorum sal litem tali viro 
commendetis: atque hoc etiam magisquam cateros, quod e jus- 
modi in provinciam homines cum imperio misimus, ut, etiam si 
ab hoste defendant, tamen ipsorum adventus in urbeis sociorum 
non mult um ab hostili expugnatione difFerant. Hunc audicbant 
antea, nunc prasentum vident, tanta temperantia, tanta man- 
suetudine, tanta humanitate, ut ii beatiisuni else videantur, 
apud quos ille diutifsime commoratur*. 

VI. Quare si propter socios, nulla ipsi injuria lacllliti, m 
jores vestri (") cum Antiocho, cum Philippo, cum /Etolis, cimi 



(10) Appellati superbius.'] Corinth, one of the most considerable cities of 
Greece, situated on the isthmus of Peloponnesus, was destroyed bv the 
Romans under the conduct of Mummius, in the six hundred and . seventh 
. year of the city. The cause of this severe treatment is variously reported 
by historians. Strabo says, that the inhabitants bespattered the Roman 
ambassadors with tilth from the tops of their houses. Livy and Ascwius 
will have it, that they afcaulted them publicly, and violated their character. 
•Cicero says no moYc than, that they treated them in a haughty insolent 
manner. "By "this he would insinuate how much greater reason there was 
to be incensed against Mithridates, who had exercised such unheard-of 
cruelties upon a Roman ambafsador of consular dignity. 

(11) Cum Antiocho, ami Philippo, aim Pavus.] AYhen Antioehus king of 
S\ria had made an alliance with the Xtoliausj and in conjunction with 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. It 

-tfttoht you to be fired, when you call to mind, that in conse- 
quence of a single exprefs, so many thousand Roman citizens 
were butchered in one day ? Corinth, the pride and ornament of 
Greece, was by your ancestors doomed to utter destruction, be- 
cause of the insolent behaviour of the citizens to their ambafsa- 
dors : and will you suffer the tyrant to escape with impunity, by 
whom a consular senator of the Roman people was condemned 
to be bound, scourged, and put to death with the most cruel 
torments? Your fathers Avould not permit the least infringement 
of their privileges ; and will you tamely overlook the murder 
of Roman citizens? These avenged even a verbal insult upon 
the dignity of their ambafsador ; and shall the blood of a Roman 
senator, shed in the most cruel manner, cry for no vengeance 
from you? Beware, citizens, beware, lesfc, as it was glorious for 
them to transmit so extensive an empire to posterity, your in- 
ability to preserve and defend it prove not infamous for you. 
What, to appear unconcerned when the very safety and being- 
of your allies is at stake! Ario'barzanes, a sovereign prince, the 
friend and confederate of the Roman people, is expelled his do- 
minions. Two potent kings, the inveterate foes not only of 
Rome, but of every state in amity and alliance with her, threat- 
en all Asia. The provinces of Greece, and beyond the Helle- 
spont, unable to repel the danger, look to you for aid; but 
without daring, or thinking it safe to name the particular gene- 
ral they want, because you have already put another into that 
commifsiomj They see and know, as you do, that there is one 
man, in whom all great qualities meet; and are the more im- 
patient to be without him, as he is so near at hand to undertake 
their defence : a man, whose very name and approach, though 
he came only vested with a naval commifsion, they never thelefs 
perceive to have checked and retarded the enemies' attempts* 
And because they dare not openly proclaim their desires, they 
silently implore you to consider them, in Common with the 
other allied provinces, as worthy of the protection of such a hero. 
This request is the more reasonable, as we have lately sent 
them commanders, who indeed defended them 'from the enemy, 
"but ; whose entrance into their cities differed little from taking 
, them by storm. As to the general now in their eye, they have 
formerly heard, but at present find him so full of gentlenefs, 
moderation, and humanity, that happiest appears the' people 
among whom he longest resides. 

Sect. VI. If then your ancestors, unprovoked by any injury 
themselves, and merely for the sake of their allies, engaged in 



them/was waging war upon the confederate states of Greece; the Radians* 
trader whose protection they were, and' who liatf honoured thenvwith th~ 
2 



52 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Poenis bella gefserunt; quanto vos studio convenit injuriis pro- 
vocates^ sociorum salute m una cum umperii vestri dignitate de- 
fendere, praesertim cum de vestris maximis vectigalibus agatur 
Nam caeterarum provinciarum vectigalia, Quirites, tanta sunt, 
lit iis, ad ipsas provincias tutandas, vix contend efse pol'simus : 
.Asia vero tarn opima est el fertilis, ut et ubertate agrorum, et 
varietate fructuum, et magnitudine pastionis, et multitudine 
earum rerum quae exportantur,. facile omnibus terris antecelJat. 
Itaque haec vobis pro vincia, Quirites, si ad belli utiljtatem, et 
pacis dignitatem retinere vultis, non modo a calamitate, sed 
etiam a metu calamitatis est defendenda. Nam ceteris in re- 
bus cum venit calamitas, turn detrimentum accipitur : at in vec- 
tigalibis non solum adventus mali, sed etiam met us ipse affert 
calamifcitem. Nam cum hostium copia3 non longe absunt, eti- 
amsi irruptio facta nulla sit, tamen pecora relinquuntur, agri- 
cultura deseritur, mercatorum navigatio conquiescit. Ita ( I2 ) 
neque ex portu, neque ex decumis, neque ex scriptura vectigal 
con servari potest ; quare scepe totius anni fructus uno rumoie 
periculi, atque uno belli terrore amittitur. Quo tandem animo 
efse existimatis, aut eos qui vectigalia vobis pensitant, aut eos 
qui exercent atque exigunt, cum duo reges cum maximis copiis 
prope adsint ? cum una excursio equitatis perbrevi tempore to- 
tius anni vectigal auferre pofsit? cum publican! familias maxi- 
mas, quas ( ,3 ) in salinis habent, quas in agris, quas m portubis 
atque custodiis, magno periculo se habere arbitrentur? Putatis- 
ne vos illis rebus frui pofse, nisi eos, qui vobis fruct.ui sunt, con- 
servaveritis, non solum (ut ante dixi) calamitate, sed etiam ca- 
lamatitatis formidine liberatos ? 



title of allies, generously undertook their defence, and sent Glabrio, at the 
head of an army, to support them against their enemies. The Philij) here 
spoken of, must not be confounded with the father of Alexander the Great. 
He was, it is true, king of Macedon, but reigned not till long after him, 
and drew upon himselfthe Roman arms, by attacking the Athenians their 
allies. The Carthagenians were engaged in three several wars with the 
Romans. Cicero here alludes doubtlefs to the second, which was under- 
taken on account of the Saguntines, the allies of the Roman people, whom 
the Carthaginians had injuriously attacked. 

(12) Neque ex portu, neque ex decumis, neque ex script urd vectigal consertarf 
potest.'] There were three kinds of tributes or taxes, from which the Roman 
state drew very ample revenues. The first was what they called detinue, 
or d>xumee y corresponding to our word tythes; those were exacted, net 
only of all the Romans, but of all the Roman allies, either within or with- 
out 'Italy, who farmed public lands : but it is to be observed, that 
these were for the most part only laid on corns, wines, oils, and the smaller 
grains. The second was what they called scriptura, a word which, I be- 
lieve, cannot be rendered by any one word in our language. We know- 
well enough, however, what idea the Romans affixed to it, and m what 
sense thev used it. Thev meant no more by it, than that branch of the 
revenue which was paid by those who enjoyed the privilege of forests and 
pasture-grounds belonging to tjie public. This part of the revenue w&$ 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 53 

war with Antiochus, Philip, the ^tolians, and Carthaginians: 
how much more ought you, irritated by a series of personal af- 
fronts, to exert yourselves warmly in a quarrel, where the dig- 
nity of your empire is united with the cause of your confede- 
rates ; more especially as the fairest revenues of the republic 
are at stake? For the "revenues of the other provinces are such* 
as scarcely to defray the expense of protecting them : but Asia is 
a country so opulent and fertile, ttiat whether we regard the 
richnels of the soil, the variety of fruits, its abundant pastures, 
and the multitude of commodities for exportation, it easily claims 
the preference to all other climates. And therefore, liomans, 
if you aspire either at succefs in war, or dignity in peace, you 
must not only defend this province from conquest, but even- 
from tiie apprehension of being invaded. For in ether aftairs, 
the lofs is felt -when the disaster happens: but in what regards 
the revenues of a state, not only real misfortunes, but the very 
apprehension of them is productive of mischief. For when an 
enemy approaches, though no irruption be yet made, the cattle 
are abandoned, agriculture is neglected, and commerce stagnates* 
Thus all taxes, whether upon shipping, manufactures, or the fruits 
of the earth, necefsarily cease ; insomuch that the bare rumour 
of danger, the very apprehension of a war, often sinks the re- 
venues of a whole year. What then may you suppose to be the 
situaton, either of those who pay, or those who collect the pub- 
lic tributes, when they sec themselves threatened with an inva- 
sion from two formidable monarcbsr when a single incursion of 
the enemy's cavalry may rifle at once the revenue of an entire 
year ? when the farmers of the taxes shall perceive, that all the 
people employed under them, m the forests, in the fields, in sea- 
ports, and in garrisons, avl exposed to imminent danger ? Do 
you imagine it potsibie to enjoy the labour of all these, without 
preserving the labourers themselves, not only from the reality, 
but, as I said before, from the very dread of danger ? 



probably called scriptura, from the sum agreed upon with the masters 
?:. of the customs lor the said, privilege being entered in a . certain 
book. The third kind of tax was what ihey called portorium, which, ex- 
cept in a few minute circumstances, corresponded to our customs laid upon 
goods imported and exported. 

(13) In salinis habent.']The word satim's, here used, has occasioned great 
: disputes among commentators. Indeed we learn from Pliny, lib 31. cap 7. 
that taxes on the salt-pits of Home were appointed by Aneus Martins. 
But this tribute, upon the expulsion of the kings, was abolished by a de 
cree of the senate. A nd though it was afterwards renewed by Marcus Livim, 
the censor, called thence Salbtator; yet we never read in any period of the 
Roman history, of its being imposed upon Asia, or any other of the Roman 
provinces. Besides, Cicero here speaks of three kinds of tributes, but in 
no part of his works of that arising from salt-pits. I am therefore inclined 
to think, that we ought to read salictis, as we find it in many editions ; 

5 



&i M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

VII. Ac ne illud cm idem vobis negligendum est, quod mihi 
egp cxtremnm proposueram, cum eisem de belli genere dicturus, 
quad ad multorum bona civium Romanorum pertinet : quorum 
vobis pro vestra sapientia, Quirites, babenda est ratio diligenter. 
Nam et publicani, homines et honestifsimi et ornatifsimi, suas 
rationeset copias in illam provinciam contulerunt: quorum ip- 
sorum per se res et fortunse, cura vobis else debent ; etenim si 
vectigalia nervos efse reipublicie semper duxnnus ; eum certe 
ordinem, qui exercet ilia, firmamentuiii ceeterorum ordinuiu. 
jrecte else dicemus. Deindc ceteris ex ordinibus homines guavi 
et industrii partim ipsi in Asia negotiantur, quibus vos absentibus 
(Consulere debetis ;. partim suas, et suorum in ea provincia pe- 
cunias magnas ( ,4 ) collocatas habent. p>it igitur humauitatis 
vestra*, magnum eoruin civium numerum calamitate prohibere; 
sapiential, videre multorum civiuin ealamitatem, a rcpublica se- 
junctam disc non poise. Kteniin illud primum parvi refer t, vos 
•publicanis amifsa vectigalia postea victoria recuperare ; neque 
emm iimein redimendi racultas erit propter ealamitatem, neque 
fitlm voluntas propter timorem. Deinde quod nos cadem Asia, 
at que .idem is.te Mithridatcs initio l>elii Asiatici doeuit, id quidem 
certe cajacnitate docti memoria retiuere debemus. Nam turn, 
cum in Asia res magnas permulti amiserunt, seimus lioma, 
lutione iinpedita, tidem concidifse. Non enim pofsunt una in 
xiyitate multi rem atque fortunas ainittere, ut non plureis seeum 
in eandcin calaniitatem trahant. A quo periculo prolubete 
rempuhlicam ; et milii credite> id quod ij^si videtis, luce lides, 
atque ln.ee ratio peeuniarum, quae Houne, qua- in t'oro versatur, 
implicita est eum illis ])eeuniis Asiaticis, et coharet ; ruere ilia 
non pofsunt, ut hac non eodem labctactata motu concidant. 
Quare videte, limn dubitandum voois sit onmi studio ad id bcl- 
Itun incuuibeie, in qua gloria uQiuinis vestri, salus >ociorum, 
\ir.tigalia maxima, forttunc plurimoruni eivium eum rcpublica 
tlefenduntur. 



VIII. Qnoniam dc genere belli dixi, nunc de magnitudine paura 
dicam. Potest enim hoc diei, belli genus efse ita neeel'sarium, 
Ut sit. gt reuduui : non else ita magnum, ut sit pertime^cendum ; 



hfvcI that Cicero has here in his eve the pasture-grounds, which abounded 
"with proves of willows. 

(II) Collocal,-!* hmbeiiji] Very many citizens had their fortunes lodged in 
the hands of the trading men, who, in the very nature of the thing, must 
suffer by the lofVes of these traders. Plutarch informs us, that in Asia I 
autre a great number of farmers of the public revenues and factors, who 
miserably harrafsed that province; and that they consisted of all the 
several orders in Koine, (except the senatorian) especially of the eques- 
trian, of which there were many who were tithe- fa rniers, luboe 



55 

Sect. VII. Nor ought you to overlook the last point I pro- 
posed to mention, in speaking of the nature of the war : I mean 
what regards the fortunes of many Roman citizens; to which, 
ray countrymen, your wisdom ought to pay a particular regard. 
For the farmers of the ravenuo, men of worth and rank in the 
republic, have conveved all their wealth and effects into that 
province ; and it is incumbent upon you, to bestow your utmost 
attention upon the preservation of their fortunes. For if we 
have ever considered the public tributes as the sinews of the 
state, sure that order of men who are employed in collecting 
them, may be justly looked upon as the cement and support of 
all the other orders. Besides, a number of active and indusr- 
trious men of other denominations, whose interest you ought to 
take care of in their absence, are some now trading in Asia, 
while others have laid out their money to a great extent in that 
province. Humanity therefore requires you, to protect the for- 
tunes of such a multitude of citizens ; and prudence dictates., 
•that the ruin of so many individuals cannot fail to a&cct the 
public prosperity. For it will avail but little to recover by a, 
victory , what the officers of the revenue may have lost ; because 
such as enjoyed the customs before, will be disabled fromre- 
anewiug the farm, and others will avoid engaging through fear. 
Besides, instructed by past misfortunes, we ought sure to keep 
in mind, what the same province, and the same Mithridates, 
taught us towards the beginning of the Asiatic war. For a 
(number of citizens sustaining at that time great lofses in Asia, 
we know that public credit was at a stand at Rome, from 
<a general stoppage of payment. And indeed, where a multi- 
tude of individuals in any state suffer an entire shipwreck of 
their fortunes, it is impofsible but others must be involved in the 
same calamity. Shield the .commonwealth therefore from this 
danger, and give credit to a principle which experience must 
have taught you. The public credit at Rome, the circulation 
of money in the forum, is connected with, and dependent upon 
the revenues of Asia ; the lofs of which must infallibly draw 
after it the ruin of the other. Judge, then, whether you ought 
not to bend all your cares to the vigorous prosecution of a war, 
in which the glory of your empire, the safety of your allies, the 
principal revenues of the state, and the properties of many illus- 
trious citizens, are connected with the defence of the republic. 

Sect. VIII. Having thus finished what I had to say concern- 
ing the nature of the war, it now remains that I speak of its 
greatnefs. And this much I will venture to affirm; that it is 



masters of the customs, and collectors - of the pasturage and forest 
money. 



56 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

in quo maxime laborandum est, ne forte a vobis quse diligentis- 
sime providenda sunt, contemnenda efse videantur Atque, ut 
omnes intelligant, me L. Lucullo. tantum impertiri laudis, quan- 
tum forte viro, sapientifsimo homini, et magno imperaton de- 
beatur ; dico e;us adventu maximas Mithridatis copias omnibus 
rebus omatas, atque instructas fuifse, urbemque Asiae clarifsi- 
mam, nobisque amicifsimam, ( IS ) Cyzicenorum, obsefsam efse 
ab ipso rege maxima multitudine', et oppugnatam vehement! :- 
gima; quam L. Lucullus virtute, afsiduitate, consilio, summis 
obsidionis periculis liberavit: ab eodem imperatore clafsem 
magnam et ornatam, quae ducibus Sertorianis ad Italiam studio 
iutlammato raperetur, superatam efse, atque deprefsam : mag- 
nas hostium praterea copias multis prcdiis eii'e deletas, pateiac- 
tumque nostns legionibus efse Pontum, qui ante populo Rom. 
ex omni aditu clausus efset : (' 6 ) Sinopen atque Amisum, quibus 
in oppidis erant domicilia regis, omnibus rebus ornata atque rc- 
ferta, caeterasnue urbeis Ponti, et Cappadocia permultas uno 
aditu, atque aaventu efse captas : regem spoliatum regno patrio 
atque avito, ad alios se rcges, atque alias gentes supplieem con* 
tuliise: atque hiee omnia, ,salvis populi Komaini bocris, atque 
jntegris vectigalibus, e: se gesta. Satis opmor hoc else laudis : 
atque ita reputo, ut hoc vos intelligatis, e nullo istorum qui 
huic obtrectant legi atque cau^a-, L. Lucullum similiter ex hoc 
efs* laudatum. 

IX. Kequiretur fortafse nunc, quemadmotlnm, cum hac ita 
sint, reliquum pofvir else magnum beilum; cognoscite, Qui- 
rites: non enim hoc sine causa qtnrri videtur. Piinium ex mio 
reono sic Mithridates profugk, ut ex eodem porno ( : 
jila quondam profug'dse dicitur : quam pra 
sui membra in hs loeis, qua se parens persequcrctur, dhapai 



(15) Cyzicencrum.'] Cyzicum, one of the finest cities of Asia, was be* 
sieged by sea and land by Mithridates, with several machines of war, and 
especially a wooden tower an hundred cubits high- lint Jaicullu> having 
blocked him up oa ail sides, and cut off Ins pro. d t» 
raise the siege. 

(16) Sihopen atque Amisum. 1 Sinope is a city upon tUe Euxtne sea, 
which at first stood out against the Romans; but being reduced to threat 
extremities, the citizens set lire to their larger Vefseis, and betook them- 
selves to their gallies, the more conveniently to make their escape Hut 
Lucullus having at last mastered the city, restored it to its former liberty; 
because during the siege*, he fancied Antigonus appeared to him in a dream ; 
who, having formerfy accompanied Hercules in his expedition against the 
Amazons, chose this' citv for himself. Amisus was a town in the confines 
of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, about a hundred and thirty miles distant 
from Sinope; Lucullus having made himself master of this last, advanced 
towards the other ; which being abandoned by the inhabitants, was soon 
taken. He suffered them however to return, "and live according to their 
own laws, because the city was originally an Athenian colony. 



ClCEK,0*S ORATIONS. 57 

indeed a necefsary and unavoidable war, yet not fo considerable 
as to give cause of fear. My principal endeavour therefore, 
on this occasion, must be, that some particulars which deserve 
your utmost attention, be not slightly overlooked as scarce wor- 
thy of notice. And here, that every one may be sensible how 
disposed I am to allow all that praise to Lucullus, which is due 
to a brave citizen, a wise man, and a great general ; I readily 
own, that at his arrival,' the numerous forces of Mithridates 
were provided with every thing necefsary or convenient; 
that Cvzicum, the noblest city of Asia, and the best affect- 
ed to Rome, was invested and vigorously prefsed by the king 
in person, at the head of a forminable army; and that the 
courage, afsiduity, and admirable conduct of Lucullus- freed it 
from the imminent danger to which it was exposedf I must 
add, that a strong and well appointed fleet, fitted out by Serto- 
rious's lieutenants, who burned with desire to wreak their ven- 
geance upon Italy, was b}^ the same general defeated and sunk: 
that in numberleis encounters besides, great bodies of the ene- 
mies forces were overthrown: that Pontus, heretofore inaccefs- 
ibie to the Roman people, was exposed to the depredations of 
our legions : that Sinope and Amisus, two cities of royal resi- 
dence, adorned and provided with all the means of defence, 
with many other towns of Pontus and Cappadocia, were taken 
in one march, and in one approach: that Mithridates himself, 
despoiled of his hereditary and paternal dominions, was forced 
to fly a suppliant to other kings and states: and that all these 
great actions were performed, without lofs to our allies, or di- 
minution of.our revenues. This, I think, sufficiently speaks his 
praise ; and I believe you will readily allow, Romans, thafc-none 
of the opposers of this law and measure, have so fully enlarged 
upon the merits of Luculius from this place. 

Sect. IX. But now, perhaps, it will be asked, if these things 
are so, how can so difficult a war still remain ? Let us examine 
into this matter a little ; for the question is not without founda- 
tion. Know then, Romans, that Mithridates fled from this 
kingdom, just as the famed Medea is said of old tQ have escaped 
Out of tiie same Pontus : whom report feigns to have scattered 
the limbs of her murdered brother in those places/through which 
her father was to pafs, that the care of collecting them, and 



(17) Medea illa,"\ Medea flying from her father JEetes, whom she had 
betrayed, by afsisting Jason to come at the golden fleece ; in order to re- 
tard his pursuit, cut her brother Absyrtus in pieces, and strewed his limbs- 
in the way; that the fathers grief for the lofs of his son, and his concern 
to gather up his mangled remains, might employ him so long as to afford 
her time to escape. 

E 



=>S ; M. T. .CICERONIS ORATIC-NES. 

ut eorum collectio dispersa, mcerorque patrius, celerir, 
persequencii retarderet; sic Mithridates fugiens rnaxiinam 
auri atque argenti, puleherrimarumque rerum omnium, quas et 
a maioribus aceeperat, et ipse hello superiore ex tota Asia direp- 
tas in suura regnum congefserat, in Ponto omnem rcliquit; have 
dum uostri colli gun t omnia diligentius, rex ipse e manibus ettu- 

. git; ita ilium in persequendi studio moeror, hos leetitia retankvh. 

^ Hunc in illo- timore et fuga Tigranes rex Armenius excepit ; 
diffidentemque rebus suis confirmavit, afflietum erexit, perdi- 
tumque recreavit ; cujus in regnum posteaquam L. Lucullus 
cum exercitu venit, plures etiam gentis contra imperatorqm 
nostrum concitataj sunt, Erat enim metus injectus iis nationibus, 
quas nanouam populus llomanus neque lacefsandas bello, ne-i 
que tentandas putavit. Erat etiam alia gravis atque vebc: 
opinio, qua; per animos gentium barbararum pervaserat, fani. 
locupletiisimi et rcligiosilsimi diripiendi causa, in eas oras nos- 
trum. exercitum else adductum. Ita nationes multa atijue mag- 
na; novo quodam torrore ac metu concitabantur. Noster autem 
cxercitus, etsi ( ,R j urbem ex Tigranis regno ceperat, et pi 
ususerat secuncli ., tamen nimia longinquitate locorum, ac desi- 
derio suorum commovebatur. Hie jam plura non dicam. Fuit 
enim illud extrumum, ut ex iis locis a militibus nostris reditua 
magis maturus, quain procefsto longior qua*reretur», Mithrkl 
autem el suam manum jam. contiimarat, et eorum, i 
regno collegerant, et magnis adventitiis multor 
tionum copiis juvabatur Hoc jam fere sic fieri soiere 
rnus, ut regum afflicts fortuns facile inukorum opes aii 
misericordiam, maxini£que eorum, qui aut rege* taint, 
vurit in regtio; quod regale iis noraen magnum et sanctum 
vjdeatur. Itaque tan turn kBcere potuit, quantum i 

lumis nunquam est ausus optane. 
< i pi! set Mumi, non fuit eo contentus, quod ei i 
dcrat, ut cam, j i . * am unqumi 

gcret: sod itura irestri u darum at i rem. 



apifal "i Armenia, 
name: Hie walls <»t" it were liny cubits nigh ; and all th 
men oi* lh< testily th 

thither with tneir treasures, and maile it tl Plu- 

tarch tills us. '..a LucuH unci here tight thousand U 
much other riches. It 6 thai he defeated the U *hri- 

(Litcs :in»l TigraneSj onnsisting of two hundred and tin.} I 
a tic! iiftv thousand horse. After this overthrow, the two k bled 

eventy thousand foot, and thirtv-tivc thousand i 
Which was again routed by I.uuilu^. i.-pon which 
into Armenia, and MithriuiM st of his way t<> l'ontus. 

(W) In i.\crcitu)ii veslrum cktnmt at lir-a he fell upon 

\. FlaccuS, whom Lucullus had left to 

au<l then upen C. Triarius, owe of Lucullus's lieutenants, who 
- to succeed I - 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 59 

pnternal grief, might stay the celerity of his pursuit. Thus 
Mithridates, to favour his flight, left in Pontus an immense col- 
lection of gold and silver, and other valuable and costly orna- 
ments, which he had either inherited from his ancestors, or got 
by plunder in the last Asiatic war, and treasured up in his own 
dominions. While our troops were employed in pillaging these, 
the person of the king escaped. Thus in the former casegrief^^, 
in the latter joy, checked the eager desire of pursuit. fln^^^Z^ 
flight, and under the influence of these terrors, he took refuge 
with Tigranes king of Armenia, who received him kindly, 
ronzed him from his diffidence, cheered him in his distrefs, and 
restored him to some degree of hope. Lucullus followed him 
with his army into this prince's territories, -where he found many 
nations ready to oppose him, from the dread they entertained 
of the Roman forces, though they were far from any design 
either to provoke or attack them. A prevalent and general 
persuasion had likewise taken hold of the minds of these barba- 
rians, that the design of pillaging a rich and awful temple, had 
brought our army into those parts. Thus many very powerful 
nations were spirited up .against us, by a new kind of terror and 
dread. Meanwhile our troops, though they took the capital of 
Tigranes' s kingdom, and routed the enemy in several encoun- 
ters, were nevertheless dismayed at the distance of the pro- 
vinces in which they fought, and seized with a desire to return ■ 
to their own country. Here let me stop : for the ifsue of all 
was, that our soldiers discovered a greater inclination to retire, 
than to advance. /But Mithridates had by this time revived the 
courage of his troops, and found his army greatly increased by 
multitudes that flocked to him from his own dominions, and the 
numerous reinforcements of many foreign kings and nations. 
This we learn from experience to be frequently the case, that 
the eminent distresses of princes, by the compafsion they are V/ 
apt to excite, raise powerful confederacies in their favour, espe- 
cially of such as are either monarchs themselves, or live in sub- 
jection to monarchy; because to tiiem the name^of royalty 
sounds great and venerable. Accordingly he was able -to effect 
more after his defeat, than in the very height of his prosperity he 
durst presume to hope. For when he returned to his own king- 
dom, not contented with so unexpected a piece of good fortune, 
in Tecovering the pofsefsibn of a country whence he thought 
himself expelled for ever, he even had the boldnefs to attack your 



upon the march himself to join the army, and desiring to engrofs the 
whole glory of the victory, gave Mithridates battle; in which he was 
touted with the lofs of twenty-four military tribunes^ an hundred and fifty 
centurion* and upwards of seven thousand private men. 

E2 > 



60 m; t. ciceronis orationes-. 

impetum fecit; Sinite hoc loco, Quirites (sicunt poetac sclent^ 
qui res Romanas scribunt) praeterire me nostram calamitatem: 
quae tanta fuit,- ut earn ad aures L. Luculli nonex preslio nun- 
tius, sed ex sermone rumor afterret. Hie in ipso illo malo gra- 
vifsimaque belli oftensione Lr. Lucullus,. qui tarnen aliqua ex. 
parte lis incemmodis mederi fortafse potuiiset, vestro juisu co- 
actus, quod imperii diuturnitati moduirrstatuendum,- veteri ex- 
emplo putavisfcis, partem militum, qui jam stipendiis confecti 
erant,. dimisit, partem Glabrioni traditit. Multa pravtereo 
consultor sed ea vos conjectura perspicite, quantum iilud bel- 
lum fnturum putetis, quod, eonjungant reges potentifsimi, re- 
novent agitata^ nationes^sussipiant integras gentes, novus irope- 
rator vester accipiat,vetere expulso exercitu. 

X. Satis, mibi multa verba fecifse videor, quarehoc be-llmn 
efset generc ipso necefsarium, magnitudine penculosum. Resrat 
ut de imperatore ad id bellum deiigendo, ae tantis rebus prrcli- 
ciendo, dicendum efse videatur. Utinam, Quirites, virorum 
fortium atque innoccntium copiam tantam baberetis, ut ha?c \ 
bis deliberatiodiffioilis efset, quemnam potiisimum tantis rebus 
ac tanto bello prseficiendum putaretis. Nunc rero cum situnus 
Cn. Pompeius, qui non modu eoruin hominum, qui nunc sunt, 
gloriam, sed etiam antiquitatis memoriam virtute superavit j 
quae res est, qua* cujusquam animum inbac causa dubium faccre 
pofsit? Ego enim sic existimo, in summo imperatore quatuor 
has res inefse oportere, scientiam rei militai is, virtutem, auctori 
tatem, felicitatem. Quis igitur hoc homine- scientior unquam 
aut fuit, aut efse debuit? Quis e'ludo atque pueritiae disciplina^ 
belio inaximo, atque acerrimus hostibus {'-') adpatris exercitu 
atque in militias disciplinam profectus est: qui extrerua puei 
miles fuit summi imperatoris, lueunte adolescentia f*') max inn 
ipse cxercitus imperator : qui ssepihs cum hoste contHxit, mi 
quisqrranu cum inimico concertavit ; plura. bella gefsit, quam 
•i i leger.unl ; plureis provincias confecit, quam alii concupi- 
vcrujit: cuius adolescentia ad scientiam rei militaris non alic 
pra'eeptis, sed suis imperils: non offensionibus belli, sed vic- 



{QO) Ad jtafris exera'/mn.] Namely Cn. Pompeius Strabo, who vai 
Cato's colleague in the consulship. He served with great repul 
proconsul during the Italic war, and was afterwards general of the army 
sent to act aeaihst China; on which occasion his son Porn pey the Gr 
then but i years old, served under him, as we learn from I 

tarch. 

Mj.u'mi ?'/'j<?{... orator.'] Plutarch and Florus relate, thai 

while he was only a private man, and not exceeding three and twenty i 
of age/Jhte levied an army m.Picenum, and being joined by the whole b 
of the nobility, entered Sylla s camp at the head of three' 1 e 
march, lie secured the friendship o( several states of Italy ; c 
Scipio and L'arbo, the generals of the oppos'ric party, to an enc 
and upon h*w coming up to Sylla, was by him saluted in \ 

mediately after sent iute C el Liberia, at lot bead of an u 



CICERo's OR'ATIO'NS. 6] 

"brave and victorious army. Suffer me, Romans, in this place r after 
the example of the poets, who write of your affairs, to suppreis 
.the mention of our calamity : a calamity so great, that it 
■reached the ears of Lucullus, not by any mei'senger, escaped from 
the battle, but by the reports of public rumour. | In this scene 
of distrefs, and amidst the heavy lofses of so. destructive. a war, 
L. Lucullus, who might in some measure, perhaps, havei found 
a remedy for these evils, constrained by your orders, which, in 
imitation of former times, set bounds to the duratioivof his com- 
mand, dismifsed that part of the army which had completed its 
legal term of service, and delivered over the other to Glabrio. 
1 designedly pafs over many things ; leaving it to your own con- 
jectures to inform you haw important that war is like to prove, 
in which, after the defeat of your former army, you are still to 
oppoie, under the auspices q£ a new commander, the confede- 
racy of two poAverful kings?, the renewed hostilities of resentful 
nations, and the entire forces of unsubdued countries. 

Sect. X. Methinks I have said enough to prove that this war 
is in its nature necefsary, and by its importance dangerous. Let 
me now speak of the choice of a general fit to command in such 
a war, and have the charge of so great an undertaking. Jt were 
to be wished, Romans, that this state so abounded w r ith men of 
courage and probity, asto make it a matter of difficulty to de- 
termine, to whom chiefly you should entrust the conduct of so 
important and dangerous a war. But as Pompey is univer- 
sally allowed, not only to surpafs the generals of the present 
age, but even those of antiquity, in military fame; w*hat 
reason can any man afsign, why he should hesitate a moment 
* in the present choice. ? To me four qualifications seem requisite 
.to form a complete general ; a thorough knowledge of w r ar, va- 
lour, authority, .and good fortune. But wdiere is the man that 
pofsefses, or indeed can be required to pofefs greater abilities in 
war, than Ppmpey ? One that from a boy, and the exercises of the 
school, pafsedinto his father's camp, and began the study of the 
military art, during the progrefs of a raging war, maintained by 
a furious enemy? who, before the period of childhood was 
elapsed, commenced a soldier under a great general ? who, in 
the very dawn of youth, was himself at the head of a mjghty 
army? who has fought more pitched battles, than others have 
maintained personal disputes ; carried on more wars, than others 
have acquired by knowledge of reading ; reduced more pro- 
vinces, than others have aspired to even in thought? whose 
youth* was trained to the profefsionof arms, not by precepts de- 
rived from others, but the highest offices of command; not by 
personal mistakes in war, but a train of important victories ; 
not by a feries of campaigns, but a succefsion of triumphs? ; In 
JLoa, what species of w r ar can be named, in which the for- 

E3 



,62 M..T. CICE.RONIS QR.ATIONE&. 

toriis ; lion stipendiis, sed triumphis est erudita. Quod de- 
nique genus belli else potest, in quo ilium non exercuerit for- 
tune reipublicae ? ( 2Z ) Civile, Africauum, Transaipinum, Hi- 
spaniense, mistum ex civitatibus atque ex beliicosifsimis na- 
tionibus, servile, navaie bellum. Varia et divejrsa genera et 
faiellorum et ho:-tium, non solum gesta ab hoc uno, sod etiam 
confecta, nullam rem efse declarant in usu militari positam, quae 
hujus viri scientiam fugere pofsit, 

XL Jam vero virtu ti' Cn. Pompeii quae potest par oratio in- 
veuiri ? quid est, quod quisquam aut illo dignum-, aut vobis no- 
vum, aut cuiquam inauclitum pofsit anerre ? Non enim Hlae sunt 
solae virtutes imperatonae, quae vulgo existimantur, labor in 
negotiis, fortitude in periculis, industria in agendo, celeritas in 
conficiendo, consilium in providendo : quae tanta sunt in hoc 
uno, quanta in omnibus reliquis imperatoribus, quos aut vidi- 
mus, aut audivimus, non fuerunt. ( 2 " j ) Testis est Italia, quam 
ille ipse victor L. Sulja hujus virtute et cpnsilio confefsus est 
liberatam : testis est Sicilia, quam multis undique cinctam peri- 
culis, non terrore belli, sod edentate consilii cxplicavit , testis 
est Africa, quae magnis opprefsa hostium copiis,eorum ipsorum 
sanguine redundavit : testis est Gallia, per quam legionibus nostris 
in Hispaniam iter, Gallorum internecione, patefactum est : testis 
est Hispania, qua? saepifsime pjurimos hosteis ab hoc superatos 
prostriitosque conspexit; testis est iterum et sapiusltaliic, quae, 
cum servih bello tetropericulosoquepremeretur, abhocauxiliuni 
absente expetivit : quod bellum cxpeetationc Pompeii attenuatum 
atque imminutum est, adventu sublatumac sepultum ; testes vero 
iam onines orae, atque omnes extcnr gentes ac natiqnes : deni- 
que maria omnia, turn universa, turn in singulis oris omnes sinus, 
atque portus. Quisenim toto mari locus per hpsannos, aut tain 
firmum habuit presidium, ut tutus eiV.et ? ut tani t'uit abditus, 
tit lateret? quis navigavit, qui non so, aut mortis, aut servitutis 
periculo committers ? cum aut Jiieme, aut referto praeddnum 



(C2) Civile, Jfricauum, Travsalfitiwm.'] The orator here represents 
Pompev as a mail consummate in all the parts of war, as having had op- 
portunities of acquiring experience in every kind of it that can happen, lie 
had acted in the civil war between Marius and S\ 11a ; in the African, against 
Cn. Domitius ; in the Transalpine, against the Gauls; in the Spani.lr, 
against Sertorius ; in the servile, against Spartacius; and by lea, against; 
the pirates. 

('23) Teztis est Italia, Sicilia, Africa.'] "We have hev- an enumeration of 
the different theatres op which Pompev had displayed his military viii 
.Italy had beheld him voluntarily raise an army, to support the cause of 
JSvUaand the republic. Sicily was by his arrival, "freed from the devastations 
of Perpenna and Carbo, who, after quitting Italy, had taken pojselsion of 
that island. Africa saw him victorious pver.Cu. Doinitiys, and lliarba. 
fcijig of Numidia. Gaul hud her troops cut in piece-, for opposing 



rf.npe of the republic has not given him an opportunity of ex- 
ercising himself ? the civil, the African, the Transalpine, the 
servile, the naval; together with that of Spain, in which such 
a multitude of our own citizens and warlike foreigners were 
'Concerned. So many and different wars, againft such a variety 
of foes, not only carried on, but happily terminated by this one 
man, sufficiently proclaim, that there is no part of military 
•knowledge in which he is not an accomplished master. 

Sect. XI. But where can I find exprefsions equal to the va- 
lour of Cneus Pompey ? What can any one deliver on this sub- 
ject, either worthy of him, new to you, or unknown to the 
.most distant /nations? For these, as common opinion -would 
have it, are not the only virtues of a general; industry m busi- 
nefs, intrepidity in dangers, vigour in action, promptnefs jn 
-execution, prudence in concerting : all which qualities appear 
with greater lustre in him, than in all the other generals we 
•ever saw or heatpl of. Italy is a witnefs, which the victorious 
.Sylla himself owned was delivered by his valour and timely 
succour, Sicily is a witnefs, which he extricated from the 
-many dangers that surrounded her on every side, not by the' 
-terror of his arms, but by the promptitude of his counsels. 
Africa is a witnefs, which overflowed with the blood of those 
.very enemies that in numerous ^swarms laid waste her fields. 
,Gaul is a witnefs, through which a way was laid open for our 
legions into Spain? by the slaughter of her armies. Spain is a 
witnefs, which has. often beheld multitudes of our enemies over- 
thrown and cut to pieces by this hero. Italy is again and 
repeatedly a witnefs, which, when opprefsed with the cruel 
and formidable war of the gladiators, implored his afsistance 
in his absence. The very rumour of his approach damped and 
broke the force of that war, and his rival extinguished and 
cut it up by the roots., Atr-present all maritime states, all 
foreign kingdoms and nations, the whole extent -of the ocean, 
with the most distant hays and harbours -on every coast, 
are so many witnefses of his merit. For what sea was of late 
years so well guarded as to be secure? so retired as to 
^escape the researches of our enemies? Where was the sailor, 
that, in venturing himself upon the ocean, did not hazard the 
lols either of life or liberty ; being obliged to traverse seas covered 



march. into Spain. And Spain, abounding in warlike nations, headed by 
a general of distinguished reputation, was yet unable to withstand this 
mighty conqueror. In short, all the nations of Asia, all the maritime 
ctates along the coast of the Mediterranean, all the seas, gulfs, and havens, 
which had of late swarmed with pirates, were so many witnesses of his je» 
iliown, and ready. to bear testimony to his victories by sea and land. 

E'4 



64 M. T. CICERONI^ 0RATI0NES. 

roari navigaretur. Hoc tantum bellum, tarn turpe, tarn vetu?, 
tam late divisum, atque dispersum, quis unquam arbitraretur 
aut ab omnibus imperatoribus uno anno, aut omnibus annis ab 
uno imperatore confici pofse? Quam provinciam tenuistis a 
prajdonibus liberam per hosce annos? quod vectigal vobis tutum 
fuit? quem socium defendistis ? cuipvaesidio claisibus vestrisfuis- 
tis ? quam inultas existimatis insulas else desertas ? quam multas 
aut metu relictas, aut a praedonibus captas urbeis efse sociorum ? 

XII. Sed quid ego longinqua commcmoro? fuit boc quon- 
dam, fuit proprium popuii Romani, longe a domo beilare, et 
propugnaculis imperii sociorum fortunas, non sua tecta defen- 
der e. Sociis vestris ego mare clausum per bosce annos dicam 
fuifse, cum exercitus nostri Brundusio nunquam, nisi summa 
hieme, transmiserint ? Quid ad nos cum ab exteris nationibus 
venirent, captos querar, cum legati popuii Romani redempti 
sint? mercatoribus tutum mare non fuifse dicam, cum ( 24 j 
duodecim secures in prsedonum potestatem pervenerint? Quid 
aut Colophonem aut Samum nobiliisimas urbeis innumerabiles- 
que alias captas efse commcmorem, cum vestros portus, atque 
cos portus, quibus vitam et spiritum ducitis, in prsedonum fuiiVe 
potestate sciatis? An vero ignoratis, portum Caietan celebcni- 
mum, atque plenifsimum' navium, inspectante praetore, a pne- 
donibus else direptum? Ex Miseno autem, ejus ipsius liberos, 
qui cum praedonibus antea ibi bellum gefscrat, a pnedonibus 
efse sublatos? Nam quid ego ( i5 ) Ostiense incommodum, 
atque iilam labem, atque ignominiam reiprjblicae querar, 
eum prope inspectantibus vobis clafsis ea, cui consul popuii 
Romani praepositus efsct, a, pritclouibus capta, atque op})' 
est? Pro dii immortales ! tantamne unius hominis incredibilis, 
ac divina virtus tam brevi tempore lucem atleTre reipublic«e 
potuit, ut vos, qui modo ante ostium I iberinum clafsem bos- 
tmm videbatis, ii nunc Tmllam intra ocean i ostium prado- 
num navcm else audiatis? Atque ha c qua celeritatib gesta 
quamquam videtis, tamen £ me in dicendo pretereunda noo 
sunt. Quis cnim unquam, aut obeundi negotii, aut cc 



(C4-) Ducdecim secures'] lie here places ike twelve axes, or badges of dis- 
tinction "of the praetor's office; tor th£ praetors themselves. /Tieprwtors 

£ad two axes carried before theim in the city, and six in their provi: 
Hence we learn, from the number twelve Here mentioned, that two pr 
were made prUoners on tills occasion. These vfeTG Sextilius and BHiuus; 
who, as Plutarch informs us, were kized, together with their badges and 
lictors, by thepii 

(25) Ostiet modum\ Osiia was a city built bvAncus Martins, at 

the mouth of the Tiber. So daring were tire pirates, that they land- . 
this town, and burnt and plundered the Roman velVels; and, us If they 
entertained no thoughts of returning, they remained there, with all their 
booty, and the prisoners that had escaped daughter, as in a city be] 
izig to themselves. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 65 

with pirates, or expose himself to the inclemency of the winter ? 
Who would ever have believed, that a war so considerable, so 
shameful, so lasting, so various and widely diffused, could have 
either been finished in one year by all the generals of the com- 
monwealth, or by one general in the compafs of a whole life ? 
What province did you pofsefs at that time uninfested by pi- 
rates ? What branch of your revenue was safe ? Which of your 
allies did your arms screen from insult ? What state was pro- 
tected by your fleets ? How many isles were forsaken by their 
inhabitants ? How many confederate cities were either aban- 
doned through fear, or became the prey of mercilefs pirates ? 

Sect. XII. But why do I confine myself to the mention of 
remote transactions ? It was of old, it was, I say, the distin- 
guishing character of the Roman people, to make war upon 
distant countries, and employ the forces of the empire, not in 
Hefence of their own habitations, but to guard the properties of 
their allies. Shall I take notice of the lea's being shut up to 
your allies, when the very armies of the republic durst not pafs 
over to Brundusium, but in the dead of winter? Shall I com- 
plain of the many prisoners made of foreign nations on their 
journey to Borne, when a ransom was paid even for the ambas- 
sadors of the Roman people ? Shall I mention how unsafe the 
ocean was to merchants, when the twelve lictors of your chief 
magistrate fell into the hands of pirates? Why should I speak 
of Cnidus, Colophon, or Samos, with innumerable other ftately 
cities taken by the Corsairs, when you know that your very 
harbours, those harbours whence you derive your strength and 
greatneis, were forced to submit to their sway ? iHave you for- 
got that the celebrated port of Cajeta, when fullf of ships, was, 
in presence of a Roman praetor, plundered by pirates ? that 
the children of the very man, who had formerly fought them on 
that coast, Avere by them carried off from Misenum ? Need 
I deplore our lois at Ostia, so dishonourable to the common- 
wealth, when a fleet, commanded by a Roman consul, was taken 
and destroyed by pirates, almost within view of Rome itself? 
Immortal gods! could the incredible and astonishing valour of 
pne man in so short a time, throw such a lustre on the state, 
that you, who so lately saw a fleet of enemies in the mouth of 
the Tiber, hear not now of one pirate within the limits of the 
Mediterranean? | Nor must I forget with what what despatch all 
this was execute*!, though you yourselves are no strangers to it. 
For what man, either urged by the calls of business, or prompted 
by a desire of gain > could in so short a time visit so many 
coasts, and accomplish so many voyages, as the fleet under the 
command of Pompey has done in the pursuits of war ? Before 
the season for sailing was come, he touched at Sicil^, visited 



<*6' M. T. CICEROttIS ORATIONES. 

quendi quaes! us studio, tarn brevi tempore tot loca adire, tan- 
toscursus con ti cere potuit, quam celcriter, Cn. Pompeio duce, 
belli impetus navigavit ; qui, nondum tempestivo ad navicran- 
dum mari, Sicilian* adiit, Africam exploravit, inde Sardinian! 
cum elafse venit : atque haec tria frume'ntaria subsidia reipub- 
iidae firmifsimis prsesidiis claisibusque munivit. Inde se cum in 
Italiam recepifbet, duabus Hispaniis, et Gallia Cisalpina prae- 
sidiis ac navibus confirmata, miosis item in oram Illyrici maris 
et in Achaiam, omnemque Graeciam navibus, Italiae duo maria 
inaxrmis claisibus, firmiisimisque praesidiis adprnavit; ipse au- 
tem, ut a Brundusio profectus est, undequinquagesimo tiie 
totam ad imperium populi Romani Ciliciam adjunxit: omnes 
<]ui ubique praedones fuerunt, partem capti interfectique sunt, 
partim unius hujus imperio ac potestati se dediderunt. Idem 
Cretensibus, cum ad cum usque in Pamphyliam f 26 ) legatos de- 
precatoresque misifsent, spem deditionis non ademit, obsidesque 
imperavit. jta tantum bellum, tarn diutumum, tarn longe 
iateque dispersum, quo bello omnes gentes ac nationes preme- 
bantur, Cn. Pompeius extrema kieme apparavit, • ineunte ver.e 
.suscepit, media sestate confeciL 

Xffl. Est haec divina atque incredibilis virtus Imperatoris. 
Quid caeterae, quas paulo ante commemorate coeperam, quanta^ 
atque quam multae sunt? Non enim solum bellandi virtus 
in summo atque perfecto Imperatore quaerenda est : sed multae 
sunt artes eximiae, hujus administrae, comitesque virtutis. Ac 
priinum quanta innocentia debent else Imperatores ! quanta 
deinde omnibus in rebus temperantia ! quanta fide ! quanta fa- 
cilitate ,! quauto iug.enio ! quanta humanitate ! Quae breviter, 
qualia^sint in Cn. Pompeio consideremus ; summa enim omnia 
•sunit, Quirites ! sed ea magis ex alioium contentione, quam ipsa 
£>er sese cognosci, atque inteliigi pofsunt. Quern enim poisu- 
rnus Imperatorem aliquo in numero putare, cujus in exercitu 
vaencant centuriatus, atque vaenierint? quid nunc homineiu 
magnum ant amplum de republica cogitare, qui pecuniam ex 
serario depromptam ad bellum administrandum, aut propter cu- 
piditatem prorinciae Magi stratibus diviserit ? aut propter avari- 
tiitm Roma; in qiurstu reliquerit ? Vestra admurniuratio facit, 
Quirites, ut aguoscere videaniuii, qui hire iecerint. Ego auteni 



(26) Legates deprccatoresquc.~] The Cretans .dreading, lest if Metellus 
made himself 'master .of the island, he would put all the inhabitants to the 
sword, sent ambafsadors to Pompey, with a proffer of surrendering themselves 
to Him, from whom they expected a milder fate. Pompey, willing to de- 
prive Metellus of the glory of conquering Crete, sent Octavius, one of his 
lieutenants, with orders that he should withdraw from the island. Octavius 
even went >o far, as to aid the Cretans against Metelhs, whom nevertheless 
he forced to submit, and .punished them Vith great severity. Though tins 
circumstance in reality reflects no great honour upon Pompey, yet Ciceigi 
artfully turns it to his praise. 



vj :re 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 

tne coast of Africa, and thence returning to Sardinia ■ 
his fleet, secured there three granaries of the repuhlic 
strong squadrons and garrisons. After this, having stre 
ened the two Spains and Cisalpine Gawl with troops and f 
and sent detachments to Illyricum, Achaia, and all the stai 
Greece, lie bent his course towards Italy ; where leaving- pe ver- 
ful squadrons and garrisons behind him, to maintain the n 
of the Adriatic and Tuscan seas, he, in forty-nine days after 
weighing frein Brundusium, added all Cilicia to the Roman 
empire, and either took, destroyed, or forced to submit to his 
authority, all the pirates that had so long infested the coa ,s of 
tiie Mediterranean. The same general, when the Ci 
sent ambafsadors to him as far as Pamphylia, to implor 
clemency, did not discourage their hopes of being admitted to 
a surrender, but ordered them to give hostages. Thus Pon 
pey in the end of winter prepared for, in the beginning ol 
spring entered upon, and towards the middle of summer finished 
this formidable war, which had continued so long, and was 
become so wide and universal; as to involve in its bosom all 
states and nations. 

* 
Sect. XIII. Such is the divine and incredible valour of this 
general. But what are we to think of those other numberlefs 
and astonishing virtues I mentioned before ? For ability in war 
is not the only qualification we are to look for in a great and 
consummate general. Many other illustrious talents ought 
to accompany and march in the train of this virtue. |\.nd first, 
what spotlefs innocence is required in the character , of a ge- 
neral ! What temperance in all circumstances of life ! What 
untainted honour ! What affability ! What penetration ! What 
a fund of. humanity ! Let us briefly examine how conspicuous 
all these qualities are in Pompey: for here, Romans, we shall 
find them in the most exalted degree, But we can never so 
well know arid comprehend them by considering them, apart, 
a,s when we judge of them in comparison with others. Is that 
man to be ranked among the number of great generals, in 
whose arniv. commilsions are bought and sold? Can he 
Jiave high and honourable views for the interest of the state, 
who employs the money furnished out of the treasury, towards 
the carrying on a war, either in bribing the magistrates to pro- 
cure him some beneficial province, or in serving the mean 
purposes of usury at Rome ? Your whispers, Romans, dis- 
cover, that you know the persons chargeable with this re> 
proach. For my part, I name nobody ; nor can any one take 
odence, without previously owning himself guilty..'- But-- 
which of you is ignorant of the many cruel calamities occa- 
sioned by this avarice of" generals in all' ■ places where our 
armies come? Call to mind the marches that have of late 



8f. T. CIQERONIS ©UATIONES. 

inem nomino ; quare irasci mihi nemo potent, nisi qui ante 

e voluerit confiteri . Itaque propter hanc avaritiam Impera- 

.m quantas calamities, quocumque ventum sit, nostri exer- 

3 ferant, quis ignqrat ? Itinera, quae per hosce armos in Ita- 

per agros atque oppida civium Romanorum nostri Imperato- 

^ceruttt, recordamini : turn facilius statuetisj quid apud ex- 

s nationes fieri existimetis; utrum plures arbitramini per 

:e annos militum vestrorum armis hostmm urbeis, an hiber- 

sociorum civitates .efse deletas ? Neque enim potest exer- 

m is continere Jmperator, qui seipsum non contmet : neque 

irus efse in judicando, qui alios in se severos efse judices non 

Hie miramur, nunc hominem tantum excellere caeteris, 

is legiones sic in Asiam pervenerunt, ut non modo manus 

i exercitus, sed ne vestigium quidem cuiquam pacata nocu- 

dicatur ? Jam vero quemadmodummilites hibernent, quotidie 

ocrmones ac literso perieruntur ; non modo ut sumptum t'aciat in 

injlitem, riemiiti vis afTertur ; sed ne cupienti quidem cuiquam 

jpermittitu'r ; hiemis.enim non avaritiac permgium Majores n 

tri in socionim atque amicorum tectis else vomer unt. 

XIV, Age vero, caeteris in rebus quali sit temperantia, con- 
siderate; unde illam tantam celeritatem, et tarn incredibiieni 
cursum initum putatis •? non enim ilium eximia vis remi 
aut ars inaudita quaedam gubernandi, aut venti aiiqui novi tain 
celeriter in ultimas terras pertulerunt; sed ha,' res, quae cacteroa 
remorari ^olent, non retardarunt : non avaritia ab in>titnto cursu 
ad praedam aliquam devocavit, non libido ad voluptai m, dor 
ameenitasad delectatioiiem, non nobilitas urbis ad coyitationrm, 
non denique labor ipse ad quietem : postremo ( 1? ) signa el 
las, caeteraqne ornamenta Gra?corum oppidorunv, quae i 
tollenda efse arbitrantur, ea sibi ille ne vise nda quidem exk 
vit. Itaque ©nines quidem nunc in his locis C'n. Fompeium* 
sicut aliquem non ex hac urbe miisum, sed de ccelo 
Intuentur : nunc denique incipiunt credere, fuifse homily 
manos hac quondam abstiiientia ; quod jam nationibus e 
incredibiie, ac falso memorise proditum videoatur. Nunc im- 
perii nostri splendor illis gentibus lucet: nunc intelligunt, 
:t*ine causa Majores snos turn, cum hac temperanl 
liabebamus., servire popuio Romano, quoin imperare alii* 



(27) Sig??a et tab'Jas^ It was .usual with the Roman ca 
•they found any pictures or statues-of value in a conquered <- : 
and send them to Kome. This humour became at last so prevalent, thai 
it proved a plentiful source of opprel'sion to the subjects of the common- 
wealth. For even the governors of provinces, tin..' 
the same liberty with the cities under their command, ;ii' 
thing valuable in tilts kind, without sparing them so mu« 
-oi their gods, 



years been made by our generals in Italy, through towns and 
territories belonging to Roman citizens. You will thereby the 
more easily be enabled to form a judgment of what must have 
pafsed in foreign countries. I will even venture to affirm, that 
your enemies have suffered lefs by the arms of your troops,, 
than your allies by furnishing them winter-quarters. For that 
general can never restrain hrs soldiers, who is unable to restrain, 
himself; nor be an impartial judge' with regard to others, Avho 
declines an impartial trial in his own; case.. Is it any wonder 
then that Pompey should be allowed so- far to surpafs other ge- 
nerals, when* his march through Asia was conducted with such, 
order and discipline, that not only the hands, but the very foot- 
steps of his numerous army, are said to have been, without the 
least offence to* the nation* at peace with Rome? And as to the 
moderation at present observed by his troops in their winter- 
quarters, every day's letters and talk bear witnefs to it. For 
so far is any one from being compelled to contribute to the 
maintenance of his soldiers, that even such as voluntarily offer 
are not permitted: in. which we may behold the true spirit of 
our ancestors, who considered, the houses of their friends and 
allies, not with an eye to the cravings of avarice,, but as placed 
of refuge against the severity of winter. 

Sect.- XIV. But let us now consider this temperance in other 
respects. To what think you are we to attribute the incredi- 
ble celerity and despatch o£ Ins voyages ? For sure neither the 
extraordinary strength of the rowers, nor the matchlefs art of 
the pilots,- nor the indulgent breath of new winds, wafted him. 
so swiftly to the ends of the eartb. But those indirect aims 
that are wont to create so many obstacles to others, retarded 
not him in the prosecution of his design. No avaricious views- 
diverted him into the- pursuit of plunder, no criminal pafsion 
seduced him into pleasure,, the charms of a country provoked 
not his delight, the reputation of a city excited not his curiosity, 
nor could even labour itself soothe him into a desire of repose. 
In fine, he laid it down to himself as a law r not so much as to 
visit those paintings, statues, and other ornaments of the Greek 
cities, which the generals his predecefsors thought they might 
carry off at pleasure. Accordingly all the people m those parts 
consider Pompey, not as a general sent from Rome, but as one 
descended from heaven: and they now at last begin to believe, 
that there were formerly among the Romans, men of this 
heroic moderation; a tradition, which foreign nations have of 
late regarded as fabulous, and contrived to impose upon poste- 
rity. But now the lustre of our empire has spread itself over 
these countries: now they T begin to be sensible, that it was not 
without reason their ancestors, while we had magistrates of 
such distinguished moderation^ chose rather to be subject to 



10 M< T . CICE^P^IS ORATIONES. 

I utl vero ita facilcs aditus ad eum privatorem, ita libera quetf. 
monire de aliornm injuriis else dicuntur: at is qui dignity 
nrincipiliuS excellit, facilitate par infimis else videatur. Jam 
Quantum consilk), quantum dicendi gravitate, et copia vakMt, 
in quo ipso inest qua-darn dig-mtas imperatons, vos } Quintes, 
hoc ipso in loco same eognostis. Fideni vero ejus inter socios 
quantum existiman putatis, quam hostes omnium > gentium, 
slmctiisimam else judicarint? Humamtate jam tanta est, lit 
dilRcilc dictu sit, litrum hostes magis viftutem ejus pugnantes 
tmmerint, an mansuetudinem victi dilexennt. Et quisquam 
dubitabit, qum huic tantum beilum hoe transnnttendum sit, qui 
ad omnia vest no memorise bella eonficienda, divmo cmodam 
consilio natus else videatur? 

XV. Et, quoniamanctoritas multum in bellis quoque aj 
nistrandis, atque imperio militari valet, certe nemini dubium 
est, quin ea in re idem ille Imperator plftrinmm poisit ; vehe- 
mehter autem pertinere ad bella administranda, quid h< 
quid soCri de Imperatoribus vestris existiment, quis ignorat ? 
cum sciamtfs, homines in tantis rebus, ut ant eontemnant, aut 
metuant, aut oderint, aut anient, opinione non minus lama-, 
quam aliqua certa ratione commoveri. Quod igitur nomen un- 
quam in orbe terrarum elarius fuit? cujus res gestae pares ? de 
quo homine vos, id quo maxrme facit auctoritatem, ( M ) ; 
et tarn praeclara judicia fecistis r An vero u Ham nsquani efw? 
oram tarn desertam putatis, quo non illius diei fama pervaserit^ 
cum univer&us popnlus Roiiianus, referto i'oro, repletisque 
omnibus templis, ex quibus hie locus conspici potest, ummi 
sibi ad commune omnium gentium beilum Cn. Pompeium [m- 
peratorem . depoposcit ? Itaque, ut plura non dieum, neque 
aliorum exemplis conrirmem, quantum hujus auctor 
in.beilo, ab ecdem Cn. Pompeio omnium rerum egregiarum 
exempla sumantur: qui, quo die a vobis maritimo bell 
sij:us est Imperator, tanta repente viiitas annons ex summu 
inopia et caritate rei frumentaria? consecuta est, unius 
nis spe et nomine, quantam vix ex summa ubertate agrorum 
diuturna pax eiiicere potuiiset. Jam vero accepta 
eaiamitatc ex eo pruelioj de quo vos paulo ante invitus admonui : 
cum socii pertimmfsent ; hostium opes animique crevifsent; 
cum satis firrnum presidium provincia non haberet ; amisifsetis 



,.(28) Tanta, et tarn pruedara judicia.'] The great expectations the "Roman 
people had "formed of Porapey, and their disposition to favour and do 
him honour, appeared in their decreeing him a triumph, while he v.. 
no more than a knight, in their sending him when quaestor with procOOr 
sutar authority against Sevtoritis; and in their choosing him consul L 
he, had borne auy other magistracy. 



* CICERO'S ORATIONS* 11 

the Roman people, than to command over others. Besides, he 
is so easy of acceis to those in a private station, and so ready to 
listen to the complaints of tile injured, that though in dignity he 
gurpafses the greatest princes, * in gen tlenefs he appears on a. 
level with the lowest of the people. [His prudence in council, 
his majestic and copious elocution, with that dignity of person 
which speaks him born to command, have often been expe- 
rienced by yourselves, Romans, in this very place. AVhat 
arc we to think of his good faith towards his allies, when his 
Very enemies of all nations own it to- be without stain I Such 
too is his humanity, that it is hard to say, whether his foes more- 
dread his valour in the held, or are charmed with his modera- 
tion after conquest. And shall it then admit of a doubt, whe- 
ther the. management of this important war ought to be com- 
mitted to a man, who seems by divine appointment sent into 
the world, to put an end to all the wars that harafs the present 
fate} 

Sect. XV. And' because authority is of eminent influence, in? 
the conduct of war, and the administration of military command ; 
sure no one can be ignorant, that this is a distinguishing part of 
our general's character. Every man will allow, that nothing is 
of greater consequence in war, than the opinion which both 
friends and foes entertain of your generals; since it evidently 
appears, that in tire greatest affairs, where love, hatred, fear, 
or contempt, are often of decisive influence, men are no lei? 
apt to be swayed by the reports of fame, than by principles 
founded on reason. . Where then was there ever a name upon 
earth more renowned than his? Who has yet equalled him in 
great actions? And, to mention what properly constitutes 
authority, where is the man, of whose merit you have formed 
so high and advantageous a judgment ? Do you imagine there 
is in the world a coast so unfrequented, as not to have been 
reached by the fame of that day,, when the whole people of 
Rome crowded into the forum, and all the temples whence ir* 
could be seen, demanded Pompey alone to command inji war, 
which regarded the common interest of all nations ?FTnerefore, 
to say no more, nor be obliged to strengthen by examples ta- 
ken from others^ what 1 have affirmed of the prevalence of ' 
his authority in war; let me have recourse to the same Pompey, 
for instances of whatever is illustrious and great. The day 
he was named to the command of the piratical war, from 
the greatest dearth and scarcity of provisions ever known, 
the very credit of his name sunk their, price so much, that 
they could scarce have been purchased lower in a year of peace 
and plenty. After the fatal lois sustained in Pohtus, in the 
battle of which i t little before reminded you with reluctance; 
while our aii;es trembled; while our enemies grew in spirit 



72 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Asiam, Quirites, nisi ad id ipsum temporis divinitus Cn. Pom- 
peium ad eas regiones fortuna populi Romarii attulifset. ^ Hujus 
adventus ct Mithridatem insoiita inflammatum victoria conti- 
nuit, et Tigranem magnis copiis minitantem Asia? retardiivit. 
Et quisquain dubitabit quid virtute perfecturus bit, qui tantum 
auctoritate perfecerit? aut quam facile imperio atque exercitu 
socios et vectigalia conservaturus sit, qui ipso nomine ac ru- 
more defenderit? 

XVI. Age vero, ilia res quantam decla-rei ejusdem horninis 
apud hosteis populi Romani auctoritatem, quod ex locis tarn 
longinquis, tamque diversis, tarn brevi tempore omnes htlic uni 
se dediderunt? quod Cretensium legati, cum in eorum insula 
noster Imperator, exercitusque efset, ad Cn. Pompeium in ulti- 
mas prope terras venerunt, eique se omnes Cretensium civi- 
tates dedere velle dixerunt? Quid? idem ipse Mithridates, 
nonne ad eundem Cn. Pompeim legatum usque in Hispaniain 
misit ? eumque Pompeius legatum semper judicavit ? ii quibus 
semper erat molestum, ad eum potifsimum efse mifsum, specu- 
latorem quam legatum judicare maluerunt. Potestis igitur jam 
constituere, Quirites, hanc auctoritatem multis postea rebus 
gestis, magnisque vestris judiciis amplificatam, quantum apud 
illos Reges, quantum apud exteras nationes valituram else ex- 
istimetis. Reliquum est, ut de felicitate, quam pnestare de 
seipso nemo potest, meminifse, et commemorare de altero pos- 
sumus; sicut sequum est homini, de potestate deorum timide 
etpauca dicamus. Ego enim sic existimo; ( z9 ) Maximo, Mar- 
cello, Scipioni, Mario, et ceteris magnis Imperatoribus, non 
solum propter virtutem, sed etiam propter fortunam, sapius 
imperia mandata, atque exercitus efse commifsos. Fuit enim 
profecto quibusdam summis viris quaedam ad amplitudinem et 
gloriam, et ad res magnas bene gereudas divinitus adjuncta 
fortuna. De hujus autem horninis felicitate quo de nunc agimus, 
hac utar moderatione dice.ndi, non ut in iliius potestate" fortu- 
nam positam efse dicam, sed ut praeterita meminefsc, reliqua 
sperare videamur : ne aut invisa diis immortalibus oratio nostra, 
aut ingrata efse videatur. Itaque non sum praedicaturus, Qui- 



(29) Maximo, Marcello, Scipioni, Mario. ] Fabius Maximus was dicta- 
tor, and five times consul. He is the same, who by his wise delavs so ef- 
fectually disconcerted Hannibal. Marcellus was five times consul," defeat- 
ed the Gauls, forced the Insubrians to submit to the republic, routed Han- 
nibal's army at Kola, and took Syracuse by storm. Scipio J/rica 
his twenty-fourth year, was sent "into Spain with proconsular authority. 
-By his conquests in Africa he obliged Hannibal to quit Italy, and after- 
wards defeated him in a pitched battle, which put an end to the second 
Funic war Marias vanquished Jugurtha, king of Numklia, totally cut to 
pieces the Teutoaes and Cimbri, and was seven times raised to the con- 
sulship. 2 



Cicero's orations. 73 

and strength; while the province was destitute of sufficient 
protection ; we must doubtlefs, Romans, have been dis- 
pofsefsed of all Asia, had not the fortiine of Rome, in that pe- 
rilous conjuncture, providentially brought Pompey into those 
parts. His arrival stayed the triumph of Mithrfciates, exult- 
ing in the pride of victory, and put a stop to the march of 
Tigranes, who threatened to overrun Asia with a formidable 
army. - And is it a question with any one, what lie will effect 
by his courage, who effected so much by his authority ? Or 
with what ease will he protect your allies and revenues with 
an army, whose very name and reputation secured them from 
insult ? 

Sect. XVI. But what clearly shows his high reputation with 
the enemies of the people of Rome is, that however remote 
and distant, they neverthelefs all in so short a time submitted 
to his authority. The Cretan ambafsadors r though they had 
a Roman army and general in their island, came and sought 
out Pompey in the extremities of the empire, and made an 
offer of surrendering all their cities into his hands. Did not 
Mithridates himself send an ambafsador into Spain to Pompej', 
who always considered him as one really invested with that cha- 
racter, — though those who took umbrage at the deputation's 
being addrefsed chiefly to him, chose rather to regard him as 
a spy ? From all these circumstances, Romans, you may 
now form a judgment, how decisive this authority, confirmed 
by so many great actions since, and rendered conspicuous by 
your advantageous declarations in its favour, is like to prove 
with those foreign princes and state*. It remains, that 
with all the caution and brevity befitting a man, who is to 
speak of the effects of the divine bounty, I say something of 
his good fortune ; a blefsing which no man can attach to 
his own person, yet every man may celebrate and record in 
another. And indeed I am inclined to believe, that offices of 
command, and the conduct of armies, were so often bestowed 
upon Maximus, Marcellus, Scipio, Marius, and other great 
generals, not only on account of their valour, but from the 
opinion entertained of their good fortune. For certainly in the 
case of some eminent heroes, there appears a happy destiny de- 
rived from Heaven, conducting them to the execution of all thosw 
wonders, .to which they owe their greatnefs and renown. But 
with regard to the man whose good fortune I now celebrate, I 
shall use such moderation of speech ,- as without making him abso- 
lute master of events, will serve only to show, that we have nei- 
ther forgot his past, nor despair of his future succefs. Thus shall 
my discourse savour neither of impiety, nor ingratitude. -I shall 
not therefore, Romans, expatiate here on his great actions at 
home and abroad, by sea and land, with the unusual succels that 

F 



,fj M . T . CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

rites ouunlas ille res domi militiaeque, terra niarique, quanta- 
que felicitate gtfserit: ut ejus semper voluntatis non moao 
nves afsensermt, socii obtemperarint, ^hostes obediermt sed 
etiam venti, tempestatesque obsecundarmt. Hoc brevifsime 
dicam, neminem unquam tarn impudentem fuifse, qui a dus 
immortalibus tot et tantas res tacit as auceret optare, quot et 
nuantas dii immortales ad Cm Pompeium detuierunt. Q»od ut 
illi pioprium ac perpctuum sit, Quirites, cum communis saiutis 
atque imperii, turn ipsius hominis causa, sicuti facitis, veile et 
optare debctis. Quar'e cum et bellum ita necefsarium sit ut 
neoiioi nonpoisit; ita magnum, ut accuratiisime sit admims- 
trandmn: et cum ei imperatorem praeficere pofsitis, in quo sit 
exmria belli scientia, singularis virtus, clanisima auctontas, 
eeregia fortuna: dubitabitis, Qidrites, quin hoc tantum boni, 
quod vobis a diis immortalibus oblatum et datum est, in rem- 
publicam conservandum atque amplificandum conferatis? 

XVII. Quod si Romse Cm Pompeius privatus else hoc tem- 
pore, tamen ad tantum bellum is erat deligendus, atque mitten- 
dus; nunc cum ad cameras snmmas utditates hac quoque op- 
portunitas adjungatur, ut in lis ipsis locis adsit, ut habeat exer- 
citum, ut ab iis, qui habent, accipere statim pofsit: quid ex- 
spectamus? aut our non, ducibus diis immortalibus, eidem cui 
csetera summa, cum salute reipublicae commifsa sunt, hoc quo- 
que bellum Regium committimus & At enim vir claiifsimiis, 
amantifsimus reipubliea?, vestris beneficiis amplifsimus aftectus, 
Q. Catulus; itemque summis ornamentis honoris, fortune, vir- 
tuti, ingenii prseditus, Q- Hortensius, ab hac ratione dilsenti unt : 
quorum ego auctoritatem apud vos multis locis plurimum vain- 
iise, et valere oportere confiteor : sed in hac causa, tametsi 
coo-nofcitis auctoritates contrarias fortifsimorum virorum et 
clarifsimorum ; tamen, omilsis auctoritatibus, ipsa re et ratione 
exquirere pofsumus veritatem : atque hoc lacilius, quod ea om- 
nia, quae ad hue a me dicta sunt, iidem isti vera else concedunt, 
et necefsarium bellum efse, et magnum, et in uno Cn. Pompeio 
summa efse omnia. Quid igitur ait Hortensius r si uni omnia 
tribuenda sunt, unum dignifsimum efse Pompeium : ( 3 °) sed ad 
unum tamen omnia deferri non oportere. Obsoleyit jam ista 
oratio, re multo magis, quam verbis refutata. Nam tu idem, 



(3d) Sed ad unnm tamen omnia deferri non oportere, ] If we credit the 
relation of Plutarch, Manilius's Law imported, that the whole province 
under the command of Lucullus, together with Bithvnia, which had 
to Glabrio's lot, should be transferred to PoHipey: That he should have 
the sole management of the war against Mithri dates and Tigranep : And 
tiiat the ileet and naval force^he had commanded against the "pirates, with 
Fhrygia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, the higher Cole!:: 
menia, and the army under Lucullus, should likewise be added to hi? com* 
milkiott; 



IB 

lias attended them : A succefs so great, that not only did his 
countrymen always concur with, his allies perform, and his ene- 
mies submit to whatever he desired ; but even the winds and 
waves seem to have been obsequious to his will. Suffice it in 
few words to say, that no man was ever yet so presumptuous, 
as even silently to conceive a wish, that the immortal gods 
would crown him with so many and distinguished proofs of 
their favour, as they have bestowed upon Pompey. That these, 
O Romans, may ever adhere to, and be inseparable from his 
person, you ought to pray and wish, as I am confident you do, 
as well on account of the public prosperity, as out of real regard 
to the man. \ As, therefore, this war is so necefsary, that it can- 
not be avoided ; so important, that it must be managed with 
the utmost addrefs: and as you may now commit it into the 
hands of a general, who to the most consummate knowledge in 
the art ot war, joins eminent courage, an illustrious reputation, 
and unparalleled succefs: will ye hesitate, Romans, to employ^ 
so favourable an opportunity, presented and put into your 
hands by the immortal gods, for the preservation and enlarge- 
ment of your empire? 

Sect. XVII. Were Pompey at this time at Rome, in the sta- 
tion of a private citizen, he is yet the only person fit to be 
chosen for the management of so great a war. But now, when 
with other urgent advantages, this powerful motive likewise 
concurs; that he is already upon the spot; that he is at the 
head of an army, that he can immediately join it to the forces 
now in those parts ; what wait we for ?^Or why do we not, 
when the gods so clearly discover their pleasure, intrust like- 
wise this royal war to the care of the man, who has already 
terminated so many others with the highest advantage to the 
state ?^ But Q. Catulus, a man of ah illustrious character, a 
great lover of his country, and distinguished by the most emi- 
nent proofs of your regard ; and Q. Hortensius, conspicuous 
by all the advantages of honour, fortune, virtue, and genius, 
differ from my opinion. These, I own, are men, whose sen- 
timents have always had great weight with you, and doubtlefs 
very deservedly : but on tins occasion, though some of the best 
and bravest men in Rome be against me, yet setting authority 
aside, I think we may come at the truth by reason and in- 
quiry ; the rather, because my very adversaries agree to all I 
have advanced, that this war is necefsary, and important , and 
that all the great qualities requisite for conducting it are to be 
found in Pompey. ^**What then is the argument of Hortensius ? 
If all important affairs are to pafs through the hands of one 
man, Pompey is doubtlefs the most deserving: but it were 
dangerous to trust so much power with one person. This po- 
sition, refuted rather by facts t^han by reasoning, is now be- 



r ( ; M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Q. Hortensi, multa pro tua stimma copia ac singulari facultate 
dicendi, etin senatu ( jl ) contra virum fortem A. Gabinium gra- 
viter ornateque dixisti, cum is de uno imperatore contra prae- 
doncs constitnendd legem pramulgafset : et ex hoc ipso loco 
permulta idem contra legem verba fecisti. Quid? turn, per 
deos immortaleis, si plus apud populum Romanum auctontas 
tun, quam ipsius populi Romani salus, et vera causa valuifset, 
hodie hancgloriam, atque hoc orbis terrae imperium teneremus? 
an tibi turn imperium. else hoc videbatur, cum populi Romani 
leoati, pnvtores, quaestoresque capiebantur? cum ex omnibus 
provinciis commeatu, et privato et publico prohibebamur ? cum 
ita elausa erant nobis omnia niaria, ut neque privatam rem trans- 
marinam, neque publicam jam obire pofsemus? 

XVIII. Quae civitas antea unquam fuit, non dico Athenien- 
sium, qua? satis late quondam mare tenuifse dicitur : non Cartha- 
giniensium, qui permultum clafse. maratimisque rebus valuerunt : 
non Rhodiorum, quorum usque ad nostram memoriam disciplina 
nayalis, et gloria remansit: qua? civitas antea unquam tarn te- 
nuis, quse tam parva insula fuit, quae non portus suos et agros, 
et aliquam partem regionis, atque orae maritimae per se ipsa de-. 
fenderet? At, herele, aliquot aimos continuos ante legem Gabi- 
niam ille populus Roman, cujus usque ad nostram memoriam 
nomen invictum in navalibus pugnis permanserat, magna et 
multo maxima parte non modo utilitatis, sed dignitatis atque 
imperii caruit. Nos quorum majores Antiochum regem < 
Persenque superarunt, omnibusque navalibus pugnis Cartha 
enses, homines in maritimis rebus exercitatifsimos par; 
mosque viceruht, ii nullo in loco jam praedonibus pares efse po- 
teramus. Nos quoque, qui antea non modo Itabam tutam ha- 
bebamus, sed-omneis socios iu ultimis oris auctoritate noitri 
imperii salvos praestare poteramus, turn, cum insula Delos tam 
procui a nobis in iEgeo mari posita, quo omnes undique cum 
mercibus atque oneribus commeabant, referta divitiis, parva, 
sine muro nihil timebat: iidem non modo provinciis, atque oris 
ltaliae maritimis, ac portubus nostris, sed etiam (* : ) Appia jam via 



(31) Contra virum fortem A. Gabinium.'] When Gabinius the trib 
the people preferred a law, conferring the management of the war against 
the pirates on Pompey; L. Trebellius, one of his colleagues, ink: 
his negative, and afsured the senate he would sooner die than' suffer 1 it to 
pafs. As he still persisted in this resolution, Gabinius threatened to deluxe 
him by a vote of the tribes. Trebellius upon this absented himself 'but 
could not be prevailed on to withdraw his negative, till he understood that 

en tribes had voted against him, and that the whole people were of 
e mind. The opposition ceasing, Gabinius's law pafscd and 

y was invested with the command of the piratical war Cicero 
here bestows, upon Gabinius the epithet oifortis, because of the c< 
he manifested m pushing his law, notwithstanding the opposition of the 
senate and his colleague. - 



C ICERO^S ORATIONS. f 7 

dfonie quite stale. For you,-Q. Hortensius, with that masterly 
jmd commanding eloquence which is peculiar to tou, spoke 
■fblly and forcibly against Aulas Qabrrius, a brave tribune ; both 
in the senate, when his law for putting the war against the pi- 
rates into the hands of -one general was brought before that as- 
sembly; and from this place^ when it was proposed to the con- 
sideration of the people. But tell me, in the name of all the 
gods ! • if your authority had availed more with the Roman-pec^ 
pie, than the consideration of their own safety and true interest, 
should we at this dajr hare been in pofsefsion of so much glory, 
•or really enjoyed die sorereignty of the universe .? For could 
"we tlien be deemed to pofsets this sovereignty, -when the ;un- 
baisadors, pranors, and qua-stors of the Roman people, trerc 
.liable to an ignominous captivity ? When we were deprived of 
all communication, either public or private, with our pro- 
vinces? When navigation was so totally at a stand, that we 
could transact no businefs beyoud sea, whether it regarded 
the interest of the whole state, or the properties of particular 
persons? 

Sect. XVIIL For was there ever a state, I speak not of the 
Athenians, who are faid to have been once very powerful at *ea ; 
nor of the Carthaginians, renowned for their fleets and naval 
strength; nor of the Rhodians, the glory of whose maritime 
expeditions has reached even our days: but was there, I say, 
ever a .state so inconsiderable, an island so small, that could 
not of herfelf defend her own ports and territory, with some 
part at least of the maritime coast and region'? And yet, for a 
continued train of years before the "Gabinian law, the very peo- 
ple of Rome, whose reputation in sca-arVairs has remained even 
to our days without stain, were not only divested of far the 
greatest part of their trathek, but even wounded in their dig- 
nitv and naval dominion. Wc, whose ancestors vanquish- 
ed king Antioclms ,and Perseus at sea, and came off victori- 
ous in all naval engagements with the Carthaginians, 4 na- 
tion thoroughly expert and practised in maritime affairs: we, I 
say, were then no where a match for a band of pirates. We 
too, who heretofore not only guarded Italy from insults, but bv 
the very reputation of our strength secured the quiet of our 
allies in all parts, however remote; insomuch that the island 
of Delos, distant from Rome so far as the jEgean sea, the mai> 
of all nations, abounding in wealth, small in circumference, un- 
protected by walls, had yet nothing to fear : oven we, the>e 
very Romans, were then not only excluded from our provinces, 
the maritime parts of Italy, and our harbours on the sea-coast 

(3C) Appia via.] The Appian way was so called from Appius Claudiug 
Hie censor, by whom it was made. It' reached at lira from Home to Capua, 



■78 M. T. CICERONlS ORATIONF5. 

carebarnus: et his tcmporibus non pudebat magistratus populi 
Romaru, in hunc ipsum locum ascendere, cmn cum vobis 
majores vestri exuviis nauticis, ct elal'stum spoliis oinatum rcli- 
quit'sent. 

XIX. Bono te animo turn, Q. Hortensi, populu* Romanus, 

ct caeteros, qui erant in eadem sententia, diceie cxistimavit ea, 

qua? scnticbatis: sed tanien in salute coinmuni ldcui populus 

Romanus dolori suo maluit, quain auetorilari vcstroc obtempe- 

rare. Itacjue una lex, unus vir, unus annus, non modo nos 

ilia miseria, ac turpitudine liberavit; sed etiam eilec it ut ali- 

quando verc vidercmus omnibus gentibus ac nation ibu.s terra 

marique iuiperare. Quo mihi ctiam indignius vidctur obtrec- 

tatuin efse adhuc, Gabinio dicam, an-ne Pompeio, an unique 

(id quod est verius) ue legaretur A. Gabinuis Cn. Pompeio ex- 

petenti ac postulanti? Utrum ille qui postulat legatum ad tan- 

tum bellum, quern velit, idoncus non est cjui unpetret, cum 

cactcri ad expilandos socjos, diripicndasque provincial, quo* 

voluerunt legatos eduxerint ? an ipse, cujus lege salus ac dig- 

nitas populo Romano atque omnibus gentibus constituta est, 

expers else debet gloriau ejus Imperatoris, atque ejus excrcitus, 

qui consiho ipsius atque periculo est constitutus? an Cn. Falci- 

ctias, Q.. Metellus, Q Ccclius Latiniensis, On. Lentulus, quos 

omneis honoris causa nomino, cum Tribuni-pleb. t'uilsent, anno 

proximo legati else potuerunt? in hoc uno Gabinio sunt tarn 

diligcntes, qui in hoc bello, quod lege Gabinia gentur, in hoc 

Impcratore, atque exercitu, quern per vos ipse constituit, ctiam 

praccipuo jure else, deberet ? dc quo legancio spCro Consoles ad 

Seriatum relaturos: qui si dubitabunt, aut gravabuntur, ego me 

profiteor relarurum ; neque me impediet eujusquam, Quirites, 

inimieum ©dictum, quo minus, rretus veins, vestrum jus bene- 

nciumquc defendant: neque prater interccfsioncm, quidquam 

audiam: de qua (ut arbitror) isti ipsi (jui niinantur, etiam atque 

etiam qui id liceat considerabunt. Me a. quidcm scntentia, 

Quirites, unus A. Gabinius belli maritimi rernmquc gestarum 

a net or, comes Cn. Pompeio adscribitur, propter ea quod alter 

uni id bellum suscipiendum vestris surlragiis detulit : alter dcla- 

turn, susceptumque confecit. 



beginning at the Porta Capena, as we learn from Frontinus \ an^ was after- 
wards carried on as far as Brundusiuni. Cicero says here, thai the Roman 
people were deprived of it, because that part of it which was next '■. t li a 
sa> inftsUd b\ the pirates. 



CfCERo's ORATIONS. • 

but durst not so much as apjicar on the Appian way. And vet 
M that Very time, the magistrates of the Roman people were 
not ashamed to mount this tribunal, adorned by their ancestors 
with naval spoils, aiuUthe beaks of ships taken from the enemy. 

Sect XIX. The people of Rome wore sensible, Q. Ilorten- 
sius, that when you, and such as were in your way of thinking, 
delivered your sentiments upon the law then proposed, you did 
it with an honest intention. And yet, in an aflair that regarded 
the common safety, Ihev were more swayed by a sense of their 
own sufferings, than a respect for your authority. Therefore 
one law, one man, one vear, not only delivered us from that 
state of wretchednefs and infamy, but effectually proved to all 
nations and people, that we were at length become the real 
lords of the earth and sea. On this account I cannot forbear 
cxprofsing a greater indignation at the affront offered to Ga- 
binius, shall I say, or' Pompey, or, as was really the case, to 
both, in refusing to let Pompey have Gabinius for his lieutenant- 
general, though he earnestly sought and desired it r Ought the 
general who demanded an agreeable lieutenant to sifsist him in 
so great a war, to have been refused ; when other commanders, 
who marched out to plunder the provinces, and pillage our 
allies, carried with them what lieutenant-generals they pleased? 
Or ought the mail who proposed a law tending to secure the ho- 
nour and safety of Rome and all nations, to have been excluded 
from sharing the glory of that general and army, whose destina- 
tion was the fruit of his counsels, and effected at his personal 
peril } Could C. Falcidius, Q. Metellus, Q. Ccelius Latiwensis, 
I'n. Lentulus, all of whom I mention with respect, be one year 
tribunes of the people, and the next appointed lieutenant- 
generals . and shall such a vigorous opposition be formed against 
■Gabinius alone, who in a war carried on in consequence of his 
Taw, and by an army and general of his appointment, ought, 
doubtlefs, to have the preference to all others? But I hope the 
consuls will bring the affair before the senate: or if they shall 
decline it, or raise any difficulties, I here declare, that I myself 
will undertake the businefs; nor shall the contradictory decrees 
of any man, Romans deter me, under your protection, from as- 
serting your just ri»ltfs and privileges; nor shall I regard any 
thing but the interposition of the tribunes, which I hope will 
not, without repeated consideration, be exerted upon this oc- 
casion, even by those who threaten us with it. And truly in 
my opinion, Romans, Aulus Gabinius, the author of the mari- 
time war, and all that w:fs then done, is the only person proper 
to act as an afsistant to Pompey ; because the one, by your suf- 
frages, devolved that war upon the other; and he on whom it 
was devolved, undertook and brought it to a period. 

F 4 



80 M. T. CICERONIS ORATION1S. 

XX- Itehquum est, ut de Q. Catuli auctoritate et sententia 
/dicendam else videatur : qui cum ex vobis qurcreret, si in uno 
lGn. Pbmpeio omnia poneretis, si quid dc eo factum efset, in 
quo spem efeetis habituri : cepit magnum suae virtutis fructum, 
ac dignitatis, cum amoes prope una voce in eo ipso vos spem 
frabituros efse, dixu>tis. Etenim talis est vir, ut nulla res tanta 
sit, ac tarn dinicilis, quaoi die non et consiiio rcgere, et integri- 
tate tueri, et viitute cooiicere pofsit ; sed in hoc ipso ab eo ve- 
hement itsitue difsentio, quod, quo nun us certa est hominum ac 
minus diuturna vita, hoc magis respub. dum per deos immor- 
taieis licet, frui debet sunuui hominis vita atque viitute. At 
enim nihil novi pat contra exempla atque instituta Majqrum. 
Nou dioo hoc loco, Majores nostros semper in pace consuetudini, 
jn heilo uiditati paruiise, semper ad novos casus tcuiporum, no- 
vorum consiliorum rationes accommodate : non dicamduo belia 
maxima, ('*) Punicum, et Hispeniense, ab uno Imperatore else 
confeeta : duns urbes potent itsimas, quce huic imperio maxiine 
minabantur , Carthaginem atque Numantiam, ab eotlem Scipione 
efse deletas : non commemorabo, nuper iui vobis, patribusquc 
vestris ef*e visum, ut in uno C Mario spes imperii poneretur : 
ffe] ut idem cum Jugurtha, idem cum Cimbris, idem cum Theu- 
tonis beiiuin administrarei ; in ipso Cn. Pompeio, in quo novi 
constitu; nihil vult Q. Citulus, quam multa sint nova sunima 
Q. tatuli voluntate eonstituta, recordanuni. 

XXI. Quid enim tarn novum, quam adolesce nudum privatum, 
exerchum difficili reipublica? tempore coniicere ? cpnfecit : huic 
prrcefse ? prapfuit: rem optime ductu suo gerere ? gelsit. Quid 
tarn prteter consuetudineni, quam homini peratlolescenti, cujus 
a Senatorio gradu a*as longe abefset, imperium atque exercituin 



(33) Punicum, et Hispanicnse, ab uno Ivipcratarg efie cctif?cta.~\ This 
n\3V* he applied either to the elder or the younger Scipio. The lirst, after 
having completed the reduction of Spain," pafced over iuto Africa, where 
having vanquished Hannibal, he put aji end to the second Punic war. 
The latter, known most commonly by the name of Scipio .Vmilianus, w hen 
he v as filing tor the ardilcship, and had not .yet reached the consular ace 
by ten a ears, was nevertheless elected consul, contrary to the usual forms, 
and sent into Africa, where he took and demolished Carthage. Afterward*, 
the Roman armies having been several times shamefully defeated before 
Numantin, insomuch that there appeared little hopes of redoing the plao ; 
the people cast tbi ir eve* upon Scipio, as the only general capable o( re- 
pairing the <! igrace the commonwealth had sustained. Accord i&gll lit; 
marched agair.»t it, and after an obstinate defpnee laid it entirely in ruins. 

(.'. n It ideift cum Jitgurtiut, cum Cimbris, cum Theuioms J li was in the 
war against Jugurtha that Marius first signalized hims« It*, and by his f u < 
go gained the confidence of the Roman people, that the) eon idertd him 
as i!ut surest refuge in time 'of danger. Accordingly when the Cimbri 
naa In several battles defeated Ihe armies pf the republic, M 
yitehed upon as the only person capable to defend the state ii 
jremity, He marched against them, and overcame them m two bat 



CICEfco's ORATIONS. 81 

Sect. XX. It now remains that I speak to the opinion and 
judgment of Q. Catulus, who having put the question, that it' in 
all emergencies you placed your hopes on Pompey alone, to 
whom could you have recourse in case of any disaster befalling 
him r he reaped the genuine fruit of- his own virtue and dignity, 
when with unanimous voice you called out, that in such an 
event, he himself was the man on whom you Mould rest your 
hopes. And indeed he is a man of such a eliaracter, that no 
undertaking is so great or dithcult, which he cannot direct by 
his counsels, support by his integrity, and terminate by I119 va- 
lour. But in the point now before us, I entirely differ from 
him; because the more uncertain, and the shorter human lite 
is, the more it behoves the commonwealth, while the gods in- 
dulge that favour, to avail herself of the virtues and talents of a 
great man. But it is dangerous to allow of innovations con- 
trary to the customs and precedents of former ages. I shall not 
observe here, that our ancestors in peace, always adhered to cus- 
tom, but during war, yielded to necessity ; that thev were ever 
ready to change their measure as new emergencies required an 
alteration of counsels : neither shall I take notice, that two very 
important wars, the Carthaginian and the Spanish, were finished 
by one general : that two very powerful cities, Carthage and 
Numantia, which threatened to check the growth of our empire, 
were both destroyed by the same Seipio r I shall not mention 
the late example of C. Marius, upon whom you and your fa- 
thers thought it proper to rest your whole hopes of empire, and 
commit to his sole management the wars with Jugurtha, with 
the Teutones, and with the Cimbri. I shall only desire von to 
to call to mind, how many things contrary to custom paised in 
case of this very Pompey, with the hearty concurrence of 
Catulus, who now so strenuously opposes the granting him any 
new powers. 

Sect. XXI. For what could be more contrary to custom, 
tlian for a young man, without any publie character, at a junc- 
ture dangerous to his country, to levy an army r he did levy 
one. To command it in person ? he did command it. To 
conduct it with ability and succeis } he did with both. What 
could be more unprecedented, than to commit the charge of an 
army and province to a mere youth, w hose age fell far short of 
that usually required in a senator ? to entrust him with the oo- 
\ eminent of Sicily and Africa, and the conduct of the war in 



in which he slew two hundred thousand of them, and took ninety thousand 
prisoners. Such as escaped the slaughter joined Iheinjk'lvcs to the Teu- 
tones; but Marius proving no lefs succcfsful against them, killed forty 
thousand, uml macje above sixtj thousaud prisoners. 



M. T. CTCEROttlS ORATfONfcS 



•i ; Siciliam permitti, atque Africam, bellumque in ca admi- 
tramlum ? Ftiit in his provinces singulari innocentia, grari- 



fiari 
nistran* 

tate, rirtutc: helium in Africa maximum confceit, rictorem ex- 
creitiim deportavit. Quid vero tarn mauditum, quam cquitem 
Kom. 'rinmphare ? at cam quoque rem populus Romanus non 
mod6 vidit, sed etiam studio omni visendam putavit. Quid tarn 
inusitatmn quam ut. emu duo Consules clarifsiini fortifsimique 
«H'sent, Eques Rom. ad helium maximum, tbrmidolosifsimumque 
pro Consule mittererur ? mifsus est. Quo quklem tempore, 
emu efsrt non nemo in Senatu, qui cjiceret, Non oportere 
fnitti hominem privatum pro Consule; L. Philippus dixifse di- 
citur, Non se ilium sua sentcntia pro Consule, sed (* 5 ) pro Con- 
sulihus mittere. Tanta in eo reipublica? bene gerenda 1 spes 
con^trtucbatur, ut duorum Consilium munus unius adolescentis 
Tivtirti eommilteretur. Quid tarn singulare quam ut ex Senatus- 
consulto legtbus solntus, Consul ante tieret, quam ullum alium 
Magistratum per leges carperd licnifset? ('*) Quid tarn incredi- 
hile, quam ut iterum Eques Kom. ox s. c. triumpharet ? qua* in 
in onmibus hominibus nova post hominum memoriam constituta 
sunt, ea tarn nmlta non sunt, quam hac qua? in hoc uno homine 
vidimus. Atque hire tot exempt tanta ac tarn nova, profecta 
««nt in eundem hominem a Q. Catulo, atque a ca?terorum ejus- 
4em dignitatis amplifsimorum hominum auctoritato. 

• XXII. Quare videant, ne sit periniquifci, et non fcrendum, 
iHorum auctoritatem de Cn. Pompeii digmtatc a vobis compro- 
hatam semper efse : vestrnm ab illis de eodeni homine judicium, 
populique Rom. auctoritatem improbari : preesertim cum jam* 
suojuiv. populus Romanus in hoc homine suam auctoritatem vcl 



(3>) Pro cottsulibus ruittereJ] The two consuls at that time were Lepidus 
and Catulus, men of considerable reputation both in politics and war. It 
could not therefore but recTownd much to the honour of Pompey, that in 
the opinion of so wise and able a senator as L. Philippus, lie was to be en- 
trusted preferably to two such consuls, with the conduct of a dangerous 
and difficult war. 

(36) Quid tarn incredibile quam ut itcrwn eques Romanus ex senafus-con- 
Sftko triuvipharet .?] Pompey, as we learn from this oration of Cicero, was 
honoured with two triumphs, while he was no more than a Roman knight. 
In speaking of the first, he-makes ho mention of the senate; and only says 
of (Tie people, that they exprefsetl their joy by acclamations, and an uni- 
versal concourse. For Sylla, as dictator, taking upon himself the manage- 
ment of all affairs both public and private, gnuited Pomjpey, whom he had 
«ent with 3 command into Sicily, the honour of a triumph, without consult- 
ing the senate, or receiving any addrefs from the people. The second 
triumph i^ said to have been in consequence of a decree of the senate, the 
people no way interposing in the affair. The reason of this is, that Svlla 
naving abolished the trihunitial pow< r, the administration ol'ihe common- 
wealth was wholly in i!<e hands of the senate; insomuch that the people 
had no part, either in marking laws, or granting triumphs \\ c may vb- 



CICERo's ORATIONS. *1 

those parts? He behaved notwithstanding with singular in* 
tegrky, wisdom, and courage ; terminated tlxi war in Africa 
with succefs; and brought "home his army victorious. Was 
there ever an instance ot'a Roman knight honoured with a tri- 
umph? yet this light the people of Home not only beheld, hut 
considered as of ail others the most desiramV, and worthy their 
regard. Was it ever known, when we had two consuls ot dis- 
tinguished valour and renown, that a Homan knight should be 
sent in place of one ot" them, to command in a great and formid- 
able war ? Vet he was sent ; and when some at that time ob- 
jected in the senate, that a private man ought not to be sent in 
place ot'a consul ; L. Philippus is reported to have said, that it 
was his opinion he should be sent, not in place ot* one, but of 
both the consuls. * So well were all men persuaded ot* his capa- 
city tor the administration of public attairs, that though but a 
youth, he was entrusted with the functions of two consuls. 
What could be more extraordinary, that the senate should for 
his sake dispense with the laws, and sutler him to be chosen 
consul, before he was of an a'ge to exercise the lowest magis- 
tracy? Wliat could be more incredible, tlum that, while only a 
Roman knight, he should be a second time permitted to triumph 
by a decree of the senate? All the novelties that have hap- 
pened-among men, sindrthc first memory of time, fall short #f 
those that meet in the person of Pompcy alone. And what 
is still more, all thapg numerous honours, new and ex* 
traordinary as they ai**, were conferred upon him by the ad- 
vice of Q. Catulus. and other illustrious persons of the same 
dignity. 

Sect. XXII. It behoves them therefore to consider, whether 
it may not seem unjust and presumptuous, if after having been 
so w armlv seconded by you in the design of promoting and ho- 
nouring Pompey, they should now oppose your judgment, and 
the authority of the Roman people, in tavout* of the same person; 
especially as you are armed with sufficient power to support your 
choice against all opposition ; having already, in spite of their 



?erve farther, that in consequence of this abolition of the power of the tri- 
bunes, Cicero says a little higher, thai the senate, not the people, dispensed 
with the laws in'favour of Pompey, and permitted him to sue for the con- 
sulship, before he was qualified to hold any other magistracy. For, l>y the 
Viliian law, no man could be consu), till lie had arrived at the forty-second 
year of his age: and the Cornelian laws excluded from this office all who 
had not been qiuestors and praetors. Now Pompey, though in his thirU- 
fit'ih year, had enjoyed neither of these dignities, This explains what the 
orator says, that he was permitted to sue- (or the consulship, before he was 
qualified for holding any other magistracy. For tjiere was a law subsist- 



£4 M. T. CICZRONIS ©RATiONES. 

«©ntra omneis qui difsentiunt,pofeit defendere : propterca quod 
istis rcclamantibus, vos unum ilium ex omnibus delcgistis, queio 
Irello pnedonum pneponeritis. Hoc si vos temere fecistis, et 
reipubiicjE param consuluistis ; recte isti studia vestra suis con- 
siliis regere conantur ; sin autem vos plus turn in republica. vi- 
distis, vos, his repugnantibus, per vosmetipsos dignitatem huic 
imperio, salutcm orbi terrarum attulistis: aliquando isti princi- 
pes, et sibi, et ceteris, populi Honiani univet*si auctoritati pa- 
readam efse fateantur. Atqnc in hoc bello Asiatico, et Rcgio, 
*ion solum militaris ilia virtus, quae est in Cn. Pompeio singula- 
rs, sed alia? quoque virtutes animi multa? et magna? requurun- 
tur. Difficile est in Asia, Cilicia, Syria, regnisque interior urn 
iiationum ita versari vestrum Imperatorem, ut nihil aliud quam 
de hqste ac de laude cogitet : demde etiam si qui sunt pudore 
.ac tctrtperantiik moderations, tamen eos else taleis propter niul- 
titudinein enpidorum hominum nemo arbitrator. Difficile est 
•dicta, Quirites, quanto in odio simus apud exteras nationes 
propter eorum quos ad eas per hos annos cum imperio minimus, 
mjurias ac libicunes. Quod cnim t'anum putatis in illis torrid 
nostris Magistratibus religiosum, quam civitatem sanctam, quam 
domum satis clausam ac munitam fuifse ? Url>es jam locupletes 
«tc copiosac requiruntur, quibus causa belli propter diripiciuli 
cupiditatcm ini'eratur. Libenter haec coram cum Q, Catulo et 
Hortensio dtsputarem, summis et clariisiuiis viris; noverunt 
cnini sociorum vulnera, vident eorum calamitates, querimonias 
audiunt. Pro sociis vos contra hostes exercitum mittere 
putatis, an hostium simulatione contra socios .atque anricos ? 
Qmv cifitas est in Asia, qua non modo unius Imperatoris, aul 
Leijati, sed unius Txibuni militum animus ac spiritus capere 
poisit? 

XXIII. Quare, etiam*i quern habetis, qui, collatis signis, ex- 
«icitus Regios superare poke videatur; tamen nisi erit idem, 
qui se a pecuniis sociorum, qui ab eorum conjugibus ac liberis, 
qui ab auro gazaque regia mantis, oculos, animuiu cohiberc po§- 
sit, non erit idoneus qui ad helium Asiaticum Regiumque mitta- 
Xur. Ecquam putatis civh.itcm pacatam ftii&e, qua* locuples 
sit? ecquam else locupletem, qua* istis pacata else videatui : 
Ora maritima, Quirites, Cn. Pompeium non solum propter rei 
niMitaris gloriam, sed etiam propter auimi coutincntiain requi- 



f •)<!,■ made, or, as some think, only revived by Syria, declaring all those in- 
capable of standing candidate tor airy other'magistracy, who -had not fir-t 
discharged the office of cjii;r*tor. Now Poirrpey had nCTcr be«l qu.rstor. 
nni\ for that reason was o*ly in the order of knight?, not or senators 1 <"\ 
by a law of Sylla I lie dictator, the <iuiestorship was the tirst dignilV thai 
entitled to a place in the senate. 



Cicero's orations. 85 

endeavours to prevent it, singled out this man from amongst 
all your other generals, to command in the war with the pirates,. 
It' you did this rashly, and without due regard to the interest* 
of your country, they have reason to interpose their authority, 
and endeavour to rectify your deliberations. But if you form- 
ed a truer judgment of what was advantageous to the state; if, 
though opposed by them, you took the ju 'est measures for .se- 
curing the dignity of the empire, and the repose of the uni- 
verse; let these rulers of the senate at length acknowledge, 
that both they and others ought to submit to the authority of 
the whole body of the Roman people. But in this Asiatic war 
against two powerful kings, there is net only occasion for 
those military talents so conspicuous in Pompey, but for many 
other great and eminent virtues. It. is difficult in Asia, Cilicia,. 
Syria, and other nations so remote from Rome, for a general 
to behave in such a manner, as that he shall think o£ nothing; 
but war and conquest. And even where nmdesty anvl temper- 
ance hold some under restraint, yet nobody believes :i f $& 
great is the number of the greedy and rapacious. It is indeed 
impossible to exprefs, Romans, how odious we are* become: 
among foreign nations, on account of the iniquities and op- 
prefsions of those, whom of late years we have sent to govern 
them. What temple in these lands have our magistrates left 
unprofancd? What city have they held sacred? What house 
has been free from, their violations " ? Pretences are song! it to at- 
tack every wealthy and opulent place, whose plunder promises 
to gratify the avarice of our commanders' Willingly would F 
debate these matters with Q. Catulus, ami Q. Hortcnsins, men 
of eminent worth and dignity. For they are aequainted w ith tllf? 
sufferings br our allies, >ee their distresses, and hear their conv 
plaints. Is it against the enemies of Koine, and in defence of 
your allies, that you send an army ; or are you minded, under 
this pretence to attack your friends and confederates? Where 
is the state in all Asia, that can set bounds to the ambition and 
avarice, I will not say of a general, or his lieutenant, but of a 
single tribune of the army* 

Sect. XXIII. Supposing therefore you should have a genera!,, " 
who may appear capable of defeating the forces of these two 
powerf&l kings in a pitched battle: vet unlets he is also one, 
that can refrain his hands, eyes, and thoughts, from the riches 
of our allies, from their wives and children, from the orna- 
ments of their cities and temples, and from the gold and trea- 
sures of their palaces, he is by no means tit to command in 
an Asiatic and a regal war. Is any state suffered to enjoy 
tranquillity, that is known to be rich? Or was ever anv state 
rich, which your generals permitted to remain in tranquilliu ? 
Ike sea^coast, O Romans! cleinauded Pompey, not only on 



%6 *• T « CICERONI* ORATIOXES. 

t*vit; videbat cnini populus Romanu* Don locuplotari quctamiis 
peeuma publiea, pnetflr paucos: nequo cos quidquam aliud 
tfsequi ckisium nomine, nisi ut detriment* ace ipiendis maiore 
afho turpitudine vuieremur. Nunc qua copiditate homines in 
pcovincias, quibus jactuns, quibus conditionibus -proriciscantur, 
ignorant videlicet isti qui ad ununi dcfereiula else omnia noil 
«rbitrautur, quasi vero Cn. Pompeium non cum suis virttitibu.s 
turn etiam aiienis vitiis magnum efse rideamus. Quarc nolite 
dubitare quin buic uni eredatis omnia, qui inter smnos tot uufs 
inveutus sit, queui socii in urbeis suas cum exercitu veniise "aff- 
deant. Quod si auctoritatibus hanc causam, Quirites, confir- 
mandain putatis, est vobi> auctor, vir, [*) bellorum omnium 
•waxunarumque ivrum pentiisimus P. Servilms: cuius tanta? res 
gestae terra-manque exstiterunt, ut, cum de bello delibereti*. 
auctor vobisgravior efse nemo debcat: cst(\ Curio summis res- 
tris bensticiis, maximifque rebus ^estis, summo ingenio et pruden- 
tiapraDditus: cstt'n. l-entuliis.inquooiiines, proampliisunis res- 
ins hononbus, summum consilium, summam gravitatem i 
qognoscitis: est C. Ca&itlS integritate, virtutc, constantia siniru- 
Van. Quare vtdete, ut horum auctoritatibus, illorum orationi 
qui dnsentiunt, re*pondcre noise videamur. 

XXIV. Qyxcmiiita sim, C. Manili, primum ('*) istam tuam 
et legem, et volunfatem, et seinentiam Undo, vebcmentifcinie- 
que comprobo: demde te hortor ut auctore populo Romano 
uianeas in sentemia, neve cujusqunm vim, aut minas pertimes- 
cas. Primum in te satis else animi, constantia que arbitror- 
demde cum tantain multitudinem cum tanto >tudio addse vide- 
amus, quantam non itei mn in eodem bomine praticiendo vi- 
dimus ; quid est, quod aut de re, aut de perficietidi facilitate 
dubitemus? i^o aut em, quidquid in me est studii, consilii 
laboris, in genu, quidquid hoc benertcio populi Komani, at- 
que hac potestatc proton*, quidquid aectoritate, fide, con- 
stant pofsum, id omne ad liane rem conncicrxlam tibi et 
populo Romano poliiVeor et detbro ; testorqoe onmes deot 
et eos maximc qui buic loco temploque president, qui om- 



(.77) Bsllorum omnium maxinanimque rcrum pcritijsimui P Serrihus "1 
This Puhhus Scrvilius was sent to the piratic war after Antony, and van- 
quished the enemy with great daughter. But not content with driving 
them from the seas, he made himself muster of* Phaselis and Olympus two 
ven strong cities, the chief repositories of their plunder. He like* ise'sub- 
ducd the Isaun in Cihcia, and thence obtained the surname of laauricus 

(38) Istam team legem, &c] This law was very displeasing to the a\ ow- 
ed patriots of those times; not only bccav.se they thought it an infringe- * 
ment ot public liberty, that one man should engrofs all the military co?n- 
duIs:ous 01 importance; but because of the sHgUt that was thereby put 
upon Lucullus; whose great actions, and tuve to bii cou it -.-, inerittd a 
ver\ ditlci cut return. 



CICERO's ORATIONS. 87 

Lccouni of his military glory, but likewise for his known pro- 
bity aiul moderation x>f mind. The Roman people observed, 
hat the public money from year to year enriched only a lew; 
ind that all the advantage we gained by the empty name of a 
(feet was, an increase of infamy from repeated lolses. Are thole 
who oppose the conferring such an extensive command upon 
uije person, ignorant with what avaricious views, through what 
a profusion of bribery, and on what infamous conditions our 
toagistrates now repair to their provinces r Insomuch that Pom- 
fcy appears no leis great by the contrast ot their vices, than by 
the lustre of his own proper virtues. Therefore hesitate no 
longer to commit all to the care of a man, who alone of late 
years has so far gained the confidence of your allies, that they 
rejoice to see liim enter their cities at the head of an army. 
But if you think it likewise needful, Romans, that in a point so 
material your choice sliould be hacked by authorities ; I can name 
1\ Servilius, a man eminently skilled in war, and great affairs : 
one whose exploits by sea and land have acquired him so much 
reputation, that in all military deliberations, no mans opinion 
ought to chalenge greater regard. I can name C. Curio, so 
distinguished by your signal favours and his own great ac- 
tions, so illustrious for his matchlefs abilities and prudence. I 
can name Cr. Lentulus, in whom you have always found 
capacity and talents, equal to the great honours you have con- 
ferred upon him. In fine, I can name C. Cafsius, who for in- 
tegrity, probity, and firmnefs, acknowledge no supcror. Thus 
you see how easily, by the authority of so many great men, we 
can put to silence those who oppose this law. 

Sect. XXIV. For all these reasons, C. Mamlius, I here in 
the first place declare my entire approbation of your law, your 
purpose, and your opinion: in the next place I exhort you, 
with the afsistance of the Roman people, to continue unshaken 
in this purpose, and to suffer no threats nor violence to daunt 
you. In fact, I have no reason to doubt of your courage and 
firmnefs: and as we are supported with a greater zeal and una- 
nimity, than was ever known in the like case before; what 
ground have we, either to distrust the measure itself, or our 
Miccefs in the prosecution of it? For my own part, whatever 
talents 1 enjoy from nature, or have acquired by application 
and study; whatever influence I derive from the favours of the 
Roman people, and the praetorian dignity wherewith they have 
invested me ; whatever I can erlect'by my authority, fidelity, 
and perseverance ; I here promise and make it all over to you 
and my fellow-citizens, for the carrying of this point. I attest 
all the gods, particularly those who preside over this place and 
temple, and who see into the real designs of all concerned m 
the administration of public affairs, that 1 have not undertaken 



I 
M M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES 

omnium menteis eorum, qui ad rempubl. adeunt, maxime per- 
spiciunt, me hoc neque rogatu facere cujusquam, neque (juo 
Cn. Pompeii gratiam mihi per banc causam consdiari putem, 
neque quo mini ex cujusquam amputudine, aut praesidia peri- 
cubs, aut adjumenta honoribus quaeram : propterea qnod pcri- 
cula facile, ut hominem pracstare oportet, innocentia tecti pel- 
lemus: honores autem, neque ab uno, neque ex hoc loco, sed 
eadem nostra ilia laboriosifsima ratione vita?, si vestra voluntas 
fcrct, consequemur. Quamobrem quidquid in hac causa mihi 
susceptum est, Qnirites, id omne me reipublicre causa susce- 
pifse coniirmo: tantumque abest ut aliquam bonam gratiam 
mihi quavsifse videar, ut multas etiam simultates partim obscuras, 
apertas, intelligam mihi non necefsarias, vobis non inutilcs sus- 
cepifse. Sed ego me hoc honore praeditum* tantis vestris benericiis 
artectum, statui,Quiritcs, vestram voluntatem, et rei publican dig- 
nitatem, et salutcm provinciarum atque sociorum, meis omnibus 
commodis et rationious pracferre oportere. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 89 

this part at the solicitations of any person whatever, nor with 
the view of ingratiating myself with Pompey, nor to procure 
from any one's greatnets, a shelter a«ainst dangers, or an in- 
crease of honours : for as to dangers, I shall always easily repel 
them by my innocence, as it becomes every virtuous man to 
do : and in the pursuit of honours, I shall neither trust to one 
man's favour, nor solicit them from this place; but endeavour to 
merit them by the same laborious course of life, which I hare 
hitherto followed with your approbation. Whatever therefore 
I have done in this cause, Romans, I here affirm was done with 
a view to the good of my country : and so far have I been from 
pursuing any private interest, that I am sensible I have drawn 
much. hatred upon myself, partly secret, partly open, which I 
might have avoided, and by which you may profit. But clothed 
with tliis honourable office, and indebted as I am to your fa- 
vours, I consider it as my indispensable duty, to prefer your 
determinations, the dignity * of the commonwealth, and the 
safety of our provinces and allies, to all partial and particular 
views of advantage. 



.he 

.iC- 

erice 



O RATIO III. 



2=E 



PRO C. RABIRIO*. 



I. l^TST, Quiritcs, non est rrieiE con suet ud in h?, initio diceiitfi 
X_J rationcui reddere, qua de c;m. ; a quemque ucfeinlafu, 
pmpterea quod ciinrommbus embus in eoruni periculis serupei.* 
slltis JastcAii ninii cau&iin necefsitudinis else duxi : tanjen in hac 
delensioue capitis, faimR, t'ortunaruni omnium O. Rabirii, pro- 
ponenda ratio ridetnr efsc otHcii mei: propterea quod, iiii&f 
justifsimn milii causa ad liunc defcnHenckim else visa est, cadem 
robi's ad afosolvendum debet videri. Nam me cum amicitia; 
vetnsias, -tuin di^nitas hominis, turn ratio humamtatis, tiitn 
inav- ritfce perpetua consuetude; ad (_. Kabirium defend end urn 
est adhort; ita: tmn Vero ut id studtosilkime facercm, safus reip 
consul are otTieiuui, consulatus denkjue ipse, mihi una vobhscuiu 
Qtim Siiltttc reipub. couuiiendatus, eo£git. Non enim C. Rabi- 
rium culpa de'icti, non invidia, vita-quc turpitudo, non deniqjk; 
Tfetercs, jutta', gravesque ininiieitue civium in doscrimen capitis 
vocavevunt : sed ut (•') illud sninnitun auxilium Majestatis, ..t 
que imperii, quod nobis a MajorLbus Ci»t trad it um, de repub. 
toileretur ; ut nihil posthac auctoi itas senates, nihil con-aihue iiij - 
perinm,jiilii] eonsensio bonqruin contra pestcm ac perrriciein ci- 



• Titus Attitis Labienus, tribute of the people, impeached C. Rabin us 
of treason ; for. [wring' thirty-six years before slain Apnleius Saturnams, 
who had raised a seciiiiou iu the cit v, V.nd was declared b) the senate uu 
enemy to the Romau state, llorfci.sliis and Cicero, at that lime consul, 
undertook his defi nee. The cause had been already tried before t!Te De- 
cemviri, \vh< re RabrrlBS being coudemned, appealed* to the people in their 
comitia by centuries. It was on this occasion that Cicero made the fol- 
lowing speech,- great part of which is los't But the affair never came to an 
•fsue. r'or the senate dreading the spirit of the people on this occasion, 
Letellus Celcr contrived to uifsolvC the afsembly, by taking away tic 
•iiitary Pn*»£*1 from the .lanicuium: and Lauienus not thinking lit to i\- 
yr the prosecution, Habirius eseejNXi. 
1) filud htmtnkm auxilium.^ Cicero means here that famous decree of 
efrabs by whieli, in times of public danger, the consuls were enjoined 
ike care that the comiiioilVeaith received no detriment. For Saturn:- 



ORATION III. 



FOR C. RABIRIUS. 



-Sect. I. A LTIIOUGH it is not usual with me, Romans, in 
JLJL the beginning of my pleading, to give an account 
of the reasons that induced me to undertake the defence of 
.my client, because I have always considered my connections 
with my fellow-citizens, as a sufficient plea for interesting my- 
self in their affairs: yet as the cause I am now engaged in 
regards the lite, the reputation, and the whole fortunes of 
C. Rabirius, I think it incumbent upon me to lay before you 
the motives of my present conduct; because the same reasons 
that so powerfully induced me to undertake his defence, 
should no lefs forcibly urge you to acquit him. For as ancient 
friendship, the merit of the man, common humanity, and 
my constant practice through life, jointly called upon me to 
defend Rabirius; so the safety of the state, my duty as consul,* 
in fine, the consulship itself, which together with the public 
traucmillity has been entrusted to my care in conjunction with 
you, compelled me to engage zealously in his cause. For it 
is not any criminal imputation, any jealousy of his conduct, or 
blemish in his morals ; nor, in short, any old, just and weighty 
resentment of his fellow-citizens, that have brought Rabirius 
into the present danger; but the design of abolishing out of 
the commonwealth that sovereign preservative of our majesty 
and empire, which has been handed down to us from age 
to age by our ancestors, that the authority of the senate, 
the power of the consuls, and the concurrence of the ho- 
nest, might henceforth be of no effect against what threatened 
the utter ruin and subversion of the state. Accordingly, it is 



inus having raised a sedition in the city, and the senate pafsed the above 
decree, the consuls ordered the people to arm, and Rabirius, among the 
rest joined them. Should he therefore have been condemned on this ac- 
count, no one would afterwards hate dared to take up arms inconsequence 
'of tjiat decree, v;hich Cicero here calls the great bulwark of the State. 

G 2 



$2 M. T. CICERONIS OKATTONES. 

Vitatis valcret: idcirco in his rebus evertendis ( r ) unius hominis 
senectusj infirmitas, solitudoque tentata est. Quamobrem, si est 
hon'i consul's, cum euncta auxilia reipub. labefactari, conyelli- 
gue. videat, ferre openi patriae, succurrere salu-ti fortunisque 
conimuniBiTsJ implorare eivium iidem, suam salutem posteriorem 
salute communi, ducere ; est etiam boiiorum et fortium eivium, 
quales vos omnibus reip. temporibus extitistis, intercludere om- 
nes seditionum vias, munire praesidia reipubL summum in con- 
'sulibus lmpefluiH, summum in senatu consilium, putare; ea qui 
secutus sit, iaude potius et iionore quiim ppeoa et supplicio dig- 
nurh judicare'. Quamobrem labor in hoc defendendo praecipue 
mens est: studium vero eonservandi hominis, commune mihi 
vobiseum else debebit. 

IL Sic Cnim existimare debctis, Quirites, post hominum me- 
moriam rem rrullam majorem, magis periculosam, magis ab oit> 
nibus vobis providendam, neque a tribunu pleb. susceptam, ne- 
.que a consule defensam, neque ad populum Kom. else delatam. 
Agitur enim nihil aliud in hac causa, Quirites, quam ut nullum 
sit posthac in repub. publicum consilium, nulla bonorum con- 
seniio contra improborum furorem et audaciam ; nullum extre- 
mis reip. temporibus perfugium et presidium salutis. Quae 
cum ita sint, primum, quod in tanta dimicatione capitis, fama?, 
fortunarumque omnium fieri neeei'se est, (3) ab Jove Optimo 
Max. ca^terisque diis deabusque immortalibus, quorum ope ct 
auxilio muito magis hxc reip. quam ratione hominumetcorisilio 
guberaatur, pacem ac veniam peto : precorque ab iis, ut he- 
diernu-m diem et ad hujus salutem conservandam, et ad rem- 
publ. eonstituendam, illuxifsc patiuntur. Deinde vos, Quirites, 
quorum* potestas proximo ad deoium immortalium numen ac* 
cedit, or<> arque obsecro, quoniam uno tempore vita Q. Ka- 
birii, hominis miserrimi atque innoccntiisimi, salus reip. vestris 
manibns suilragiisque permittitur, adbibeatis, in hominis for- 
tums misericordiam, in reip. salute sapientiam, quam soletis. 



('2) Unfits homuiissenectus, infirmitas, so1itudo.~\ Rabirius must certainly 
have been very old at this time: for the death of Saturninus happened 
thirty-six years* before, and he was then a senator, to which honour no one 
cqiild be admitted before the age of thirty. We are not therefore to ima- 
gine when Cicero speaks of the weak and helplefs condition of Rabirius, 
that he was utterly destitute of friends. He was a man of quality and in- 
terest, had been long a member of the senate, and by the zeal with which 
Cicero, Hortensius, and the whole body of the nobility espoused his cause, 
appears to have been well supported. But it was a mark of respect which 
an assembly of the Roman people always expected from those who appear- 
ed before them \n ronseequence of public accusation, that they should be 
represented as the greatest objects of compafsion. 

(3) Ab Jove Optimo Maximo."} It was an establised practise, not only 
among the Greek orators, but also amqpg the Roman, to invoke the god's 
in the beginning of their speeches. Cicero does it with a peculiar grace 
litre; because not a private cause, and the fortunes of a single man; but 



CICERp's ORATIONS. #3 

with a view to overthrow all these bulwarks of the public safety, 
that an attack is now made upon the old age, weaknefs, and 
helplels condition of a single man. If therefore it be the duty 
of a provident consul, when lie sees the main pillars of the com- 
monwealth shaken and almost overturned, to fly to the afsistance 
of his country, to watch _over the safety and fortunes of the 
people, to implore the protection of his fellow-citizens, and to 
look noon his own safety as but second to that of the state ; it 
is no left incumbent upon brave and honest citizens, such as you 
have approved yourselves in all the exigencies of the common- 
wealth, to shut up every avenue of sedition, to strengthen the 
defences of the state, to be persuaded that the whole executive 
power of the government resides in the consuls, and the whole? 
deliberative in the senate, and to judge that whoever follows 
these maxims, is more worthy of praise and honour, than pains 
and penalties. The task therefore of defending Rabirius, falls 
principally to my share ; but the zeal and concern for his pre- 
servation ought to be in .common to us both. 

Sect. II. Your sentiments upon this occasion ought to be, 
Romans, that within the memory of man, no cause more im> 
portant in itself, more dangerous in its consequences, more 
worthy of your attention in all its parts, was ever undertaken 
by a tribune of the commons, defended by a consul, or brought 
before an afsemblyof the Roman people. For the thing in ques- 
tion, citizens, is no lefs, than that henceforward there be no 
standing council of the republic ; no union of the honest, against 
the madnefs and presumption of the profligate; no refuge or 
shelter, in the the extreme necefsities of the commonwealth. 
Which being the case: first of all, as becomes me in so mighty 
a struggle for the safety, honour, and fortunes of every Roman, 
I implore the forgiven els and favour of the all-powerful and bene- 
ficent Jupiter, and of the other gods and goddefses, by whose aid 
and interposition, much more than by any human prudence and 
foresight, this government is upheld : and I request that this day 
may prove a day of deliverance to Rabirius ? and of preservation 
to my country. Next, I entreat and conjure you, Romans^ 
whose power approaches the nearest to, that of the immortal gods, 
since at the same time the life of C. Rabirius, the most innocent 
and unfortunate of mankind, and the safety of the common- 
wealth is committed to your care and suffrages, that you will ex- 
ert that compafsion in. behalf of the accused, and that prudence 
for the, preservation of your country, which is wont to be so 



the prosperity of the whole Roman empire, for which the gods were ^up- 
posed more immediately interested, was at stake. Jupiter is so .called, 
quasi j uveitis pater, and the epithets optimus, maximus, were those fry which 
He was always addrefsed. 

G3 / ■ 



54 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIOKES. 

Nunc quorriam, ( 4 ) T r Labiene, dibgentia? me$c, temporis angus- 
tiis obstitisti, meque ex comparato-ot constitute spatio defensio- 
nis in semihora? cui riculum coegisti, parebitur, et, quod iniquis- 
simum est, aecusatoris conditioni, et quod miserrmmm, inimici 
porestati. Quamquam in hac prescript] one semihcroe patroni 
mihi parteisreliquisti, consulis ademisti : propterea quod ad de- 
fendendum propemodum satis exit hoc mihi temporis, verum ad 
conquerendum parurm Nisi forte de locis religiosis, ac de lucis, 
quos ab hoc violatos efse dixisti, pluribus verbis tibi responden- 
dum putas ; quo in crimine nihil est unquam abs tc dictum, nisi 
a C. Macro objectumefse crimen id C. Rabirio : in quo ego de~ 
miror, meminii'se te, quid objecerit C. Rabirio Macer inimicus; 
oblitum efse, quid aequi et jurati Judices judicarint. 

III. An de peculatu facto, an (*>) de tabulario incenso longa, 
oratio est expromenda? quo in crimine propinquus C. Rabirii 
judicio clarifsimo C. Curtius provirtute sua est honestifsime libe- 
ratus: ipse vero Rabirius no'n raodo in judicium horum crimi- 
hum, sed ne in tenuifsimam quideni suspicionem verbo est un- 
quam vocatus. An de sororis filio diligentius respondendum 
eft, ( 6 ) quern ab hoc necatum efse dixisti, cum ad judicii moram 
famUiaris funeris excusatio quareretur ? Quid enim est tarn veri- 
$imile, cjuam cariorem huic sororis maritum, quam sororis filiuin 
fuifs'e ? atque ita cariorem, ut alter vita crudelifsime privaretur, 
cum alteri ad prolationem judicii blduum quaereretur ? An de 
srervis alienis (') contra legem Fabiam retentis, aut de civibus, 
Ilom. contra legem Porciam verberatis, aut necati*, plura di- 
cenda sunt, cum tanto studio C. Rabirius totius Apulia?, singu- 

(4) T. Labiate.'] This is the same Labienus who afterwards served with 
«0 much reputation under Caesar in. Gaul. He was tribune of the people 
the same year that Cicero was consul. The orator here complains, that so 
little time was granted him by the tribune for answering the charge brought 
against his client; for he was confined to the short space of half an hour, 
v hereas it was usual to allow two hours for the accusation, and three for 
the defence. But from this it would appear, as Minutius observes, that in 
cases of treason, the person who brought the impeachment had a right to 
prescribe the length of time allowed to the accused for making his 
defence. 

(5) Arfde tabulario ivcenso.~\ The place where the register and public acts 
were kept. When this crime therefore was objected to Rabirius, the true 
author was not known ; but Q. Sosius, some time after, confefsed himself 
guilty. 

(6) Qyeiti pb'hoc necatwn efse dixisti.'] C. Curtius, brother-in-law to Ra- 
birius, was accused of embezzlement. During the course of the trial his 
son died ; upon which he petitioned for a respite of judgment, that he 
might have time to attend the funeral of his son. But such was the vio- 
lence of the times, and the malice of Rabirius's prosecutors, that they pre- 
tended he had murdered his nephew, with no other view than to procure 
a short delay for his brother-in-law. But as Cicero very well observes 
here, it was not likely lie would incur so much guilt only to gain two day? ; 
nor couM it be supposed his sister's husband was dearer to him than his 
sister's son. 



CICERO's ORATIONS. T 95 

v.nspicuou.s in your afsemblies. And now, T. Labienus, since 
•• (-11 have cheeked my industry by the narrownefs of the time, 
and contracted the usual space allotted -for a defence, to the 
fchort eompafs of half an liour, I shall 'comply' with the terms 
you have thought lit to prescribe; whicli.it is highly unjust 
should come from an accuser, and dangerous to permit to the 
power of an enemy, For in this limitation of half an hour, 
though you have indeed left me the part of a pleader., you have 
/taken from me that of a conlul ; because the time is sufficient 
for making my defence, but by no means for entering my com- 
/plaint. Unlets, perhaps, you imagine that J am to spend many 
words in answer to those profanations of temples and hallowed 
groves, wherewith you charge Rabirius. -But touching this ac- 
cusation you have said nothing, urilefs that C Maccr had ob-, 
jeered it to him. And here 1 cannot but cxprels my wonder, 
that you should remember the spiteful reproaches of Macer, an 
enemy, and forget the equitable decision of the judges who 
were upon oath. 

Sect. III. Must I enlarge on the charge of embezzlement,, 
and burning the register? A charge of which C. Curtius, a near 
relation of Rabirius., was most honourably acquitted by an au- 
thentic judgment, in consideration of his virtue and innocence ■': 
for as to Rabirius himself, he not only was never questioned on 
this article, but never so much as incurred the slightest suspi- 
cion of guilt. Must I answer particularly with regard to his 
sister's son, whom you pretend he killed, that the necessity of 
attending the funeral of a relation, might furnish a plea for put- 
ting off the trial ? For what can be more probable, than that 
his sister's husband was dearer to him than his sister's son ? And 
that too in such a degree, that the one was cruelly deprived o£ 
hfe, to procure a delay of the other's trial for only two days i 3 Am 
I to enlarge upon the slaves detained in defiance of the Fabian 
law, or the Roman citizens fcourged and put to death con- 
trary to the Porcian law f When the whole country of Apulia, 
with all the states bordering upon Campania, te.stifv so dis- 
tinguishing a regard for Rabirius, that not only particular 
men, but 'whole regions and communities, to a farther extent 
than the name and limits of neighbourhood require, flock, 



(7) Contra legem Fabiam — legem Porciam."] The Fabian law provided, 
that no perfon, against the will, and without the knowledge of the master, 
should conceal the slave of another man, or put him in irons, or artfully 
entice him away ; the Porcian law w T as enacted by M. Porcius Gato, tri- 
bune of the people in the confulship of Valerius and Apuleius. By it no 
magistrate was permitted to beat a Roman citizen with rods, or put him 
to death ; whereas it had been the practice before, to strip the party quite 
naked, thrust his neck between the two prongs of a- fork, and scourge him 
co death, 

G 4 



96 M. T. CICERO^riS ORATIGNES. 

lari voluntate Campaniae vicinitatis ornetur? cumque ad ejus 
propulsandum periculum nonmodo homines, sed prope regiones 
ipsac convenerint, aliquanto etiam lathis excitatae, quam ipsius 
vicinitatis nomeii ac termini postulabant? Ham quid ego ad id 
longam orationem comparem, quod est in eadem ( 8 ) muitae irro- 
gatione praescriptum,mmc nee suae, nee aliens pudicitise peper- 
ciise? Quinetiarrr suspicor, eo mihi semi-horam a Labieno prae- 
stitutam else, ut ne plura de pudicitia dicerem. Er^o ad haec 
crimina, quae patroni diligentiam desiderant, inteuigis mihi 
semi-horam istam nirnium longam fuifse. Illam alteram partem 
de nece Saturnini nimis exiguam atque angustam efse voluisti : 
qua) non orationis ingenium, sed consulis auxilium implorat et 
iiagitat. ( 9 ) Nam de perduellionis judicio, quod a, me fublatum 
efse crimiqari soles, meuni crimen est, non Rabirii. Quod uti- 
nam, Quirites, ego id ant primus ? aut solus ex hac repub. sus- 
tulifsem ! utinam, quod ille crimen efse vult, proprium testimo- 
nium meae laudis efset! Quid enim optari potest, quod ego mal- 
iem, quam me in consulatu meo carnificem de foro, crucem de. 
campo sustulifse ? Sed ista laus primum est majorum nostrorum, 
Quirites, qui, expulsis regibus, nullum in libero populo vesti- 
gium crudelitatis regies retinuerunt : deinde multorum virorum 
fortium, qui vestram libertatem non acerbitate suppliciorum in- 
festam, sed lenitate legum munitam efse voluerunt. 

IV. Quamobrem utcr nostrum tandum, Labiene, popularis 
est? tu-rie, qui civnSus Roman in concione ipsa, carnificem, 
qui vincula adhiberi putas oportere ? qui in campo Martio, 
comitiis centuriatis, auspicato in loco, crucem ad civium sup- 
plicium defigi et constitui jubes ? an ego, qui funestari concio- 
frem contagione 'carnificis veto ? ' qui expiandum forum pop, 
Romaiii abillis nefarii fceleris vestigiis efse dico ? qui castam 
concionem, sanctum campum, inviolatum corpus omnium ci- 
Vium Rom. integrum jus libertatis defendo servari oportere? 
Popularis vero tribunus-pleb. custos defensorque juris et liber- 
tatis. Porcia lex virgas ab omnium civium Rom. corpore 
amovit: hjc misericors flagella retulit. Porcia lex libertatem 
'civium lictori Cripuit : Labienus, homo popularis, carniiici 
tradidnV C. Gracchus legem tulit, ne de eapite civium Rom. 



(8) MulUe irrogationeJ] The method of proceeding in cafes of amerce- 
ment was tliis ; The magistrate summoned the party to appear before the 
bebple on a certain day: he then accused him three times: afterwards, as 
it was termed, irrogabat multam; that is, he petitioned the people to con- 
fiscate "a certain part of his estate. 

(9) Nam' de perduellionis 'judicio.') Jn what respect could Cicero be 
charged with having- abolished the usual forms of proceeding in cases of 
treason? iSlo't hy any law that he had procured to be enacted, but by pre- 
vailing to have Jia bin us. tried in the comitia by centuries, and exercising 
his eloquence and' interest to get the sentence of the- Duumviri reversed. 



9t 

together to ward off the danger that threatens him. Why should 
I entertain you with a long discourse, in relation to what is con- 
tained in the act of amercement, that he fpared neither his own 
chastity, nor that of others? Nay, lam indeed inclined to think, 
that Lahienus has restricted me to the space of half an hour, 
that I may not enlarge too much upon the subject of chastity. 
With respect to those points, therefore, that require the exacts 
nefs of a pleader, he thought this half hour rather too long: 
but as to that other part of the charge, which concerns the, 
death of Saturninus, and which demands not so much the genius 
of-an orator, as the authority and protection of a consul, he de- 
signed the half hour as too short and confined. For as to the 
forms of proceeding against treason, which I am reproached 
with having abolished, that accusation lies against me, and not 
against Rabirius. And indeed, I heartily wish, Romans, that I 
had been either the first, or the only one, who abolished this 
out of the common wealth ; and that I could claim as my sole 
and peculiar glory, what he thinks proper to charge me with as 
a crime. For what is there I should rather desire,, than during 
my consulship to have banished an executioner from the forum, 
and removed a crofs out of the field of Mars ? But the merit of 
this belongs in the first place to our ancestors ; who, upon the 
expulsion of the kings, would suffer no traces of royal cruelty 
to remain among a free people : and in ' the next, to the wife 
counsels of many brave citizens, whose aim was, not to infest 
public liberty by the terror of severe punishments, but to secure 
it by the difcipline of mild and wholefome laws, 

Sect. IV. Which then, Labienus, is the more popular man 
of the two? you, who in an afsembly of the Roman people awe 
citizens with the terror of an executioner and chains : who in 
the Campus Martius, on a consecrated spot, and during the 
comitiaby centuries, order a crofs to be erected for the pu- 
nishment of Roman citizens? or I, who will not suffer an afsem- 
bly to be polluted by the presence of an executioner ? who 

* order the Roman forum to be cleared of all traces of so impious 
a profanation I who contend for the purity of our afsemblies, 
the sanctity of the field of Mars, that the bodies pf Roman 
citizens remain inviolate, and their liberties be preserved from 

. infringement ? A tribune is chosen to be protector of the peo- 
ple, the guardian and defender of their rights and liberties. 
The Porcian law forbids stripes to be inflicted on the bodies of 
Roman citizens : this merciful tribune restores the use of the 
scourge. The Porcian law rescued citizens from the hands of 
thehctors: the popular Labienus delivers them over to the 
executioner. Caius Gracchus pafsed a law, that . no Roman 
should be capitally tried without your concurrence : this guardian 



r!T8 M . T . C I C E'R 0-N I S OR ATI N E S^. 

injufsn vcstro judicaretur: hie popularis ( ,0 ) a Duumviris, in- 
inisit vestro, non judical- i de cive Rom. sed indicia causa civem- 
Roman, capitis condemnari coegit. Tu mi hi etiamlegis Porcia^ 
tu C. Gracchi, tu horum libertatis, tu cujusquam denique ho- 
mini" popularis mentionem faois, qui non modo suppliciis inu- 
sitatis, sed etiam vevrborum inaudka crudelitate violare liberta- 
tem hujus populi. 'ten tare maiisuetudinem, commutare discipli- 
unam conatus es ? Namque haec tua, qua? te hominem cle'mery 
tern popularemquc delectant : I LICTOR, COLLIGA MANUS : 
quae non modo .hujus libertatis, nlansuetudinisque non sunt sed 
ne Romuli quidem/ant '-BJumae Pompilii: ^fed Tarquinii super- 
foiisimi atque kei L<delrisimi regis (") ista sunt cruciatus carmina : 
quae tu homo lenis, ac popularis libentifsime coffimemorasj 
'CAPUT O-^NUBITO, ARRORI INFELICI SUSPENDITG ; 
quae verba-, Q,ui rites , jam pridem in'hac repuk non solum "tene-- 
bris vetustatisj verum etiam luce liber'catis opprefsa sunt. 

V. Am vero^ si actio isra popularis .efset, et si ullam partem 
.sequitatis haberet aut juris, . C. Qraccbus earn ' reliquifsct ? scili- 
cet tibi gravioreni dolorem patrui tui mors attulit, quamC. Grac- 
cho fratris; et tibi acerbior ejus patrui mors est, quem nunquam 
vidisti ? fjuam ilti ejus fr.atfs, quicum concord iisiuie vixerat : et 
sirpilis viri tu ulcisceris patrui mortem, atque ille persequeretur 
fratis suj, si ista ratio ne agere voiuifset $ : et par desideriuni 
sui reliquit apud populum Romanum Tabienus iste, patruu? 
Tester, quisquis fuit, ac Tib, Gracchus rehquerat? An pietas 
tua major, quam Gracchi ? an animus ? an consilium ? an 
opes? an auctoritas? an eloquentia ? quae si in illo minima 
fuifsent., tamen pra? tuisTicultatibus maxima putarentur. Cum 
vero his rebus <onmibus C. Gracchus omnes vicerit, quantum 
intcrvalhrm tandem inter te atque illiim interjectum putas? Sed 
moreretur prius acerbifsima mortc millics Gracchus, quam in 
icjus concione carnifex consisteret; quern non modo foro, sed 
etiam ocelo hoc.ac spiritu censorial leges, atque urbis domicilio 
earere volucrimt. iiic se popularem dicere audct, me alienum a 



(10) A Duumviris.'] The Duumviri, as we learn from Suetonis, in his. 
Life of (Jadar, were first created by Tu 11 us Iloftilius, fourth King of Rome, 
upon occasion of Horatius's murdering his sister; but with the liberty of 
appealing ,to the people. Rabirius's cause had been first tried at this tribunal. 
Caefar was at that time one of the Duumviri, and .appeared so eager to 
condemn the old man, that, as we are told by the historians of those times, 
nothing did him greater service with the people, than the visible partiality 
of his judge. 

(I 1 j Ista sunt cruciatus carmina'^] He means here the form of words in 
which the law was conceived. For laws, and the decisions given by the 
•magistrates, are often in Roman authors styled carmina. Thus Livv, in 
his first book, speaking of this very law, says, Lex korrendi carminis crat. 
Duumviri Perdutilioficm judice?>t : si a Duumviris provocarit, provocationc 
eeriato . -si vtneent, caput obuuhiio, arix>ri infeuci rede suspendi(o : i 
&el intra Pomerinm, vel extra Pomcrium. The form oi this dreadful law war 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 99 

of the people's rights compelled the Duumviri, not only to try 
capitally, but to condemn imheavd a Roman citizen, without 
applying fervour consent. Dare you after this mention to me 
the Porcian law, the name o( Cains Gracchus, the liberty of 
your fellow-citizens, or the example of any eminent . patriot? 
Von, I say, who not only by unprecedented punishments,- but 
by exprefsions of unusual barbarity, have attempted to violate 
the liberties of this people, the mildnefs of their laws, and the 
established constitutions of their government. Go, lictor, bind 
his hands, are the words that delight your popular and compas- 
sionate ear : words not only repugnant to liberty, and the cle- 
mency of the present administration, but such as were not 
known even to Romulus or Numa Pompilius, and suit only the 
imperious times of Tarquin, the haughtiest and most mercilefs 
of tyrants: yet these, like a mild and popular magistrate, you 
repeat with rapture, Cover his head , nail him to the accursed tree: 
■words, Romans, that in/ this state have not only been long ago 
buried under the ruins of antiquity, but even diisipated by the 
rays of liberty. 

' SiTcr. V. Had this proceeding been popular, had it been 
in any respect consistent with equity and justice, Caius Grac- 
chus would never have abolished it. Could the death of an uncle . 
grieve you more, than that of a brother did Caius Gracchus? 
Was you more afflicted for the lofs of an uncle you never saw, 
than he for the lofs of a brother with whom he lived in the 
strictest union? Will you revenge the death of such a man as 
your uncle, as he would have done that of his brother, had he 
been disposed to act upon your principles?. Was that uncle of 
yours, Labienus, whoever we suppose him to be, equally dear 
to and regretted by the Roman people, as was Tiberius Grac- 
chus? Do you pretend to vie with Caius Gracchus in piety? in 
courage? in prudence? in interest? in authority? in eloquence? 
qualities, which even supposing them to have been but mode- 
rate in him, yet compared witli yours, must appear eminent. 
But as in 1 all these respects Caius Gracchus was the first man of 
his age, at how vast a distance ought you to place yourself be- 
hind him ? And yet Gracchus would sooner a thousand times 
have died the crudest of deaths, than suffered an executioner- 
to be present in an afsembly where he presided: one so odioiu 
to this state, that the laws of the censors have not only banished 
him the forum, but adjudged him unworthy of the common be- 
nefits of light, air, and the shelter of a roof within the city. Dare 



as follows : Cl Let the Duumviri judge in matters of treason : If an appol 
" shall be made to the people, let the cause be tried again before them i 
'* lithe party shall be cast, let his head be bound up, let him be hung on 
**■ the fatal tree: but first let him be whipped cither within or without the 
(* Pomeriujn." * 



10p M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

commodis vestris: cum iste omnes et suppliciorum, et verberum 
acerbitates, non ex memoria vestra ac patrum vestrorum, sed ( ,2 ) 
ex annalium inonumentis, atque ex regum commentariis con- 
cmisierit: egp omnibus meis opibus, omnibus consiliis, omnibus 
clictis atque faetis repugnarim, et restiterim crudelitati? Nisi 
forte banc conditionem vobis else vultis, quam servi, silibertatis 
spem propositam non haberent, ferre nullo modo pofsent. Mi- 
sera est ignominia judiciorum pubiicorum, misera multatio bo- 
norum, miser um exsilium: sed tamen in omni calamitate retine- 
tur aliquod vestigium libertatis ; mors denique si proponitur, in 
libertate moriamur; carnifex verb et obductio capitis, et nomen 
ipsum crucis, absit, non modo a corpore civium Roman, sed 
etiam a cogitations, oculis, auribus. Harum enim omnium re- 
rum non solum eventus, atque perpefsio, sed etiam conditio, 
exspectatio, mentio i]5sa denique, indigna cive Romano atque 
bomine libero est. An verb servos nostros horum suppliciorum 
omnium metu, dominorum benignitas (**) una vindicta liberabit; 
eos a. verberibus, ab unco, a crucis denique terrore, neque res 
gestae, neque acta setas, neque nostri bonores vindicabunt ? 
Quamobrem fateor, atque etiam, T. Labiene, profiteor, et prae 
ine. fero, te ex ilia crudeli, importuna, non tribunitia, actione, 
sed regia, meo consilio, virtute, auctoritate efse depulsum. Qua 
tu in actione, quanquam omnia exemplamajorum, omnes leges, 
omnem auctoritatem Senatus, omnes religiones atque auspicio- 
ruui publica jura neglexisti: tamen a me hax in boc tarn exiguo 
meo tempore non audies: liberum tempus nobis dabitur ad 
istam disceptationem ; nunc de Saturnini crimine ac de clarifsi- 
mi patrui tui morte dicemus. 

VI. Arguis occisum efse a C. Rabirio L. Saturninum : et id 
C. Rabirius multorum testimoniis, Q.. Hortensio copiosiisime 
defendente, ante falsum else docuit. Ego autem, si mihi efset 
integrum, susciperem hoc crimen, agnoseerem, conritercr. 
Utinam banc mihi facultatem causa concederct, ut poi'sem hoc 
praedicare, C. Rabirii manu L. Saturninum hostem populi Ro- 



(12) Ex annaliujji monum'enlii', ex regum commejitariis.~] The Romans 
from the very beginning of their state took care to record all public trans- 
actions ; appointing the high-priest to write down yearly every thing that 
happened worthy of notice. These records, referring every event to its 
proper year, were termed annals. We learn too from Livy, book i. that 
the Roman kings wrote commentaries of what pafsed during their respeo- 
Jive reigns. 

(13) Una vindicta.~\ This alludes to the ceremony of manumifsion, which 
was thus performed: The slave was brought before the consul, and in 
after-times before the praetor, by his master, who laying his hand upon his 
servant's head, said to the prantor, Himc hominem liberum efse volo; e manu 
emitter*, Then the praetor laying a rod upon his head, called pindicta, 
■said, Dico cum liberum efse more Quiriium. After this the lictor taking the 



mi 

he afsume the name of a popular magistrate, or brand me as an 
enemy to your interests ; when he is searching for the most ri- 
gorous precedents for punishing and palsing sentences, not in 
the records of the present or former- age, but in the remote an- 
nals of antiquity, and the distant registers of our kings ; while 
I employ all my interest and abilities, all my words and actions, 
to oppose and resist the encroachments of cruelty? Unlefs per- 
haps you are disposed to choose a lot, which slaves themselves 
could never be brought to endure, unlefs supported by the pro- 
spect of liberty. Wretched is the ignominy of public trials ; 
wretched the confiscation of estate j wretched the punishment 
of exile: yet in that whole train of suffering, some footsteps of 
liberty still remain. Nay, where death itself is proposed as a 
punishmeut, we are at least permitted to di^free. But an exe- 
cutioner,; the muffling up of the head;~the dreadful name of the 
crofs ; may all these not only never reach the body, but be 
strangers to the thoughts, eyes, and ears of Roman citizens I 
For to say nothing of the presence and feeling of these calami- 
ties, the dread, the expectation, in fine, the very mention of 
them, is unworthy a Roman citizen, and a man nursed in the 
bosom of liberty. Shall the humanity of a master, by one 
manumitting blow, deliver our slaves from the terror of all these 
punishments ! And shall neither our great actions, a life spent 
in the service of our country, nor the honours to which we 
have been promoted, exempt us from the scourge, from the ax, 
or from the infamy of the crofs ? I therefore confefs, proclaim, 
and publicly avow, Labienus, that you was defeated in that 
cruel, malicious, and not popular, but tyrannical purpose, by 
my authority, credit, and firmnefs. But though in this pro- 
ceeding you ran counter to all the precedents of former times ; 
all the established laws of the state ; the standing authority of 
the senate ; the awful ceremonies of religion ; and the sacred con- 
stitutions of the Augurs: yet shall you hear nothing from me 
on this, head, because of the short time to which I am restricted. 
These points may be resumed at a more convenient season. At 
present I shall confine myself to the crime of Saturninus, and 
the death of your most illustrious uncle. 

% Sect- . VI. You accuse C. Rabin us of having slain L. Sa- 
turninus: and C. Rabirius, by the testimony of many wit- 
nesses, and the copious defence of Hortensius, has already 
proved that charge to be false. For my part, was I to choose 
in this matter, I would qwyi, take with, and avow the crime. 
Would to heaven I was at liberty to confefs, that L. Satur- 
ninus, the enemy of the Roman people, was killed by the 

rod out of the prsctor's hand, stfuck the servant several blows on the head* 
face, arjd back; and nothing now remained- but pi leo donari,. to receive a 
cap in token of liberty, and to have his name entered in the common roll 
of freemen, with the reason of .his obtaining that favour, 



102 . M. T. CICEROtfIS O-ftATIGJCLS. 

marii interfectmn. ( ,4 ) Nihil me clamor iste commcvet, sed 
consolatur; cum indic.it else quosdam cives imperitos, sed non 
iiiultcs; nunquam, mihi credite, pop. Rom. hie, qui siiet, Con- 
suiem me lecifsefr, si vestro ciamore perturbatum iri abitraretur. 
Qr.anto jam levior est acclamatio ! quin continetis vocem, indi- 
c'eoi stultitus vestra?, testem paucitatis? Libenter, inquam, con- 
fiterer, si vere pofsem, aut etiani si mi hi efset integrum, C. Ra- 
birii manuL. Saturninum else occisum : et id facinus pulcherri- 
muni else arbitraver; sed quoniam id face re non pofsum, confi- 
tebor id, quod ad laudem minus valebit-, ad crimen non minus. 
Con'fiteor interficiendi Saturmni causa C.Eabirium arma cepifse. 
Quid est, Labiene ? quam a me graviorem conielsionem, aut quod 
in hunc majus crimen exspectas? nisi vero interefse aliquid pu- 
*tas inter cum qui hominem occidit, et eum qui cum telo occidendi 
horninis causa fuit. Si intertici Saturninum ncfas fuit, anna 
sumpta else contra Saturninum sine scelere non poisunt ; si arma 
jure sumpta concedis, interfectum jure concedas necefee est. 

■ VII. ( 15 ) FIT S. C. lit C. Marius, L. Valerius Consules 
adhiberent, Tribunos-plebis et Pra>tores, quos eis vicleretur ; 
operamque darem, ut imperium populi Rom. majestasque con- 
servaretur ; adhibent onines Tribunos-plebis, prater Saturni- 
riuuv, Pra tores prater Glauciain : qui rempublicam falvam 
else vellent, arma capere, et se sequi jubent. Parent omnes ; 
ex aedificiis armamentarhique publicis arma populo Romano, 
! 0. Mario Consule distribuente, dantur. Hie jam, ut omit- 
tam cetera, de te ipso, Labiene, qurero : cum Saturninus 
Capitolium tencret armatus, efset una C. Glaucia, C. Saufeius, 
etiam ( l6 ) iile ex compedibus atque ergastulo, Gracchus : 

(14) Nihil ms clamor isie commovet.~\ The clamour raised upon this oc- 
casion demonstrates that the people were in some measure oiiended. with 
Cicero, for calling Saturninus the enemy of the Roman people. It was 
■usual in public atsembliej, where any part of the magistrate's speech was 
particularly grateful to those present, to receive it with acclamations; 
and where, oil the contrary, it displeased, to signify their dislike by con- 
fused murmurs and a tumultuous clamour. . Thus, Jgrar. 3. video quon- 
dam, Quiritcs, strepiiu iig?irficare ttescio quid. Cicero, however, affects to 
defpife the present clamour, as the faint effort of a small part of the afsem- 
-bly, which lie advife-s them to eLo'p, since it betrays only their folly, and 
the inferiority of their numbers. " . 

(15) Fit sc7!a!us-consullum id C. Marius.~\ The decree here mentioned 
was that famous one, by which the consuls were enjoined to take care that 
the commonwealth received no detriment. This never pafsed but in times 
of imminent danger, and was understood to invest the consuls with abso- 
lute authority. Cicero thereiore, by observing that llabirius took up arms 
in consequence of this decree, justifies him -from the charge of treason ; as 
it thence appeared, that he acted in obedience to a lawfufauthority. The 
tribunes used their utmost endeavours to divest the senate of this "power, 
as it was frequently employed to check their own ambitious designs ; but 
as their succeeding in the attempt would have, drawn after it the ruin of 
the public liberty, they never failed of being vigorously opposed by all the 
true lovers of their conntrv. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. tOf 

hand of C. Rabirius. That clamour disturbs me not, but rather 
furnishes matter of consolation, as it appears to be no more 
than the faint elibrt of a small part of the afsembly. The body 
off the Roman people, who are silent, would never have made 
me consul, had they thought me capable of beim*; disturbed by 
so.fc£ble an insult. How the noise sinks! Drop these vain ef- 
forts, which serve only to betray your folly, and the inferiority 
of your numbers. I repeat it again : could I do it consistently 
with truth,, or were I at liberty to n:;ike such a declaration, I 
would gladly confefs, that L. Saturninus was killed by the hand 
of C; Rabirius: nay, I would even proclaim and boast of it, as. 
an actio rp that merited rewards. But as there is no room for 
this, I will confefs what indeed redounds lei's to his glory, but 
does not lels answer the purpose of yirtiv accusation. I confels 
that C. Rabinus; took up arms, 'with intent to kill Satur.ninns. 
What ampler confefsion: would you have, Labienus ? What 
heavier charge against Rabirius? Unlefs perhaps you think 
there is a difference between killing a man. and taking up arms 
with intent to kill him-. If it was a crime Lo kill Saturninus, it 
could riot but be criminal to take up arms against him ; but if 
you allow the lawfulnefs of* taking up arms, you must also al- 
low that it was lawful to kill him. 

. Sect. VIL A decree pafsed in the senate, that the consuls C. 
Marius and, L. Valerius should require the afsistance of such of 
the tribunes of the people and pnvtors, as they thought proper ^ 
and take care that the empire and majesty of tiie people of 
Rome was preserved, inviolate. They called to their aid all the 
tribunes except Saturninus,. all the praetors e;:cept Glaucia; 
and published an edict, that every citizen who wished well to. 
his country, should take up arms and follow them. All obey 
the' summons 5 arms are distributed to the people, from the pub- 
lic magazines and arsenals,., by order of C. Marius the consuL 
And here,, not to mention other particulars T let me put the 
question to you, Labienus ; when on one side Saturninus had 
seized the capitol with an armed force, and was joined bv~ 

(16) Jlle ex compedibus< atquc ergastido, Gracchus.'] This was one L. Equi- 
tius, who -pretended to be the 'son of Gracchus. Valerius Maximus> 
lib. 9. cap. 7. says, L. Equilium qui se T. Gracchi f ilium simulabat, tribunes 
tumquc adversus leges cum L. Saturn if to petebat, a C. Mario sextuni, consula~ 
turn gerente in publicum cusfodiam ductum populus claustris career is cunvidsis )t 
raptum humeris sute, per summam amimorum alacritatem portavit. u L. 
" Equitius, who pretended to be the son ofTiberius Gracchus, and stood 
** for the tribuneship against all law with G. Saturninus ; being committrd 
" to public prison in the sixth consulship of C. Marius, was set at liberty 
" by the people, who broke open the bars of the prison, snatched him up 
* upon their shoulders, and carried him oil with the greatest ecstacy of 
"joy." Nay, so dear was the -name-xif Tibarius Gracchus to the people 
of Rome, that they actually raided this impostor to the tribuneship. /de 
was driven along with Saturninus into the capitol : bu t , rs n vc learn from 
Appian, was not killed there, 



104 s M. T- CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

addam (qupniam ita vis) eodem Q. Labienum patruum tiiuifl • 
in foro autem C. Marius et L. Valerius Flaccus Cofs. post 
cunctus Senatus, atque ille Senatus, quern etiam vos ipsi, qui 
hos P. conscriptos, qui nunc sunt, in invidiam vocatis, quo fa- 
cilius de hoc Senatu detrahere pofsitis, laudare consuevistis : 
cum equester ordo : at quorum equitum Roman, dii immortales ! 
patrum nostrorum atque ejus setatis, qua? turn magnam partem 
reipubl. atque omnem dignitatem judiciorum tenebat : cum om- 
nes omnium ordinum homines, qui in salute reipub. saluteiu 
suam repositam else arbitrabantur, arma cepifsent : quid tandem 
C. Rabirio faciendum fuit ? De te ipso, inquam Labiene, qusero ? 
cimv ad arma Consules ex S. C. vocavifsent: cum armatuu 
( ,7 ) M. ^Emilius, princeps Senatus, in comitio constitifset, qui, 
cum ingredi vix pofset, non ad inseqnendum sibi tarditatem pe- 
dum, seel ad fugiendum impedimenta fore putabat: cum deni- 
que Q. Scasvola confectus senectute, praepeditus morbo, mancus 
et membris omnibus captus ac debilis, hastili nixus, et animi 
vim et innrmitatem corporis ostQnderet: cum L. Metellus, 
Ser. Galba, C. Serranus, P. Rutilius, C. Fimbria, Q. Catulus, 
omnesque qui turn erant Consulares, pro salute communi arma 
cepifsent : cum omnes Praetores,. cuncta nobilitas, ac juventus 
accurreret, Cn. et L. Domitius, L. Crafsus, Q.. Mucius, C. Clau- 
dius, M. Drusus: ciim omnes Octavii, Metelli, Julii, Cafsii, 
Catones, Pompeii : Cum L. Philippus, L. Scipio, cum M. Lepi- 
dus, cum D. Brutus, ciim hie ipse P. Servilius quo tu impera- 
tore, Labiene, meruisti; cum hie Q. Catulus admodum turn 
adolescens, cum hie C. Curio, cum denique omnes clarifsimi 
viri cum Consulibus efsent: quid tandem C. Rabirium facere 
convenit? utrum inclusum atque abditnm latere in occulto, at- 
que ignaviam suam tenebrarum ac parietum cUstodiis tegere ? 
an in Capitolium pergere, atque- ibi se cum tuo patruo et cete- 
ris ad mortem propter vitas turpitudinem confugicntibus congre- 
gare ? an cum Mario, Scauro, Catulo, INletcllo, Screvola, cum 
bonis denique omnibus coire nonmodo salutis, verum etiam pe-> 
riculi societatem. 

VII. Tu denique, Labiene, quid faceres tali in re ac tempo- 
re ? cum ignavise ratio te in fugam, atque in latebras impelleret : 
jmprobitas et furor Lucii Saturnini in Capitolium arcefseret : 



(11) -1/. JEmilius princeps senatus~\ INI. /Emilius Scaurus was by birth a 
patrician, but of a family which poverty had reduced very much. He 
j-aised himself to the first honours of the state by his eloquence and per- 
sonal merit. Cicero makes frequent mention of him in his writings, and 
celebrates particularly his steadinefs and solid judgment. When he saw a 
Sedition raised in theVity by Saturninus, he exhorted Marius, then consul 
for the sixth time, to undertake the cause of the commonwealth; and 
though in an extreme old age, appeared armed, and leaning on his spear f 
before the door of the senatg-hou^e. 



CtcERd's ORATIONS. 105 

0. (rlaucia, C. Sauseius, and that Gracchus who had been drawn 
from irons and a gaol; I will add, since you will have it fo, 
Q,. Labienus, your uncle: and on the other appeared in the fo- 
rum C. Marius and L. Valerius Flaccus, the consuls ; behind 
them the whole body of the senate, that senate you were wont 
so much to extol, the better to detract from the authority of 
the present senate, which you endeavour to render odious: 
when the Equestrian order too, the same that flourished in the 
time of our fathers, an age that allowed them so large a share 
in the administration of affairs, and devolved upon them the 
whole weight of public judgments: immortal gods, what a body 
of Roman knights! in fine, when men of all ranks, who consi- 
dered their own safety as connected with that of the state, had 
taken up arms; what was C. Rabirius in such a case to do? Tell 
me then, I say, Labienus? when the consuls, in consequence of a 
decree of the senate, had ordered the people to arms : when 
M. iEmiiius, prince of the senate, appeared armed in the place 
of aisembly,and though scarcely able to walk, much lefs to pur- 
sue, yet thought his gouty feet would at least hinder his flying: 
when Q.. Scacvola, spent with age, diseased, lame, feeble, and 
crippled in all his limbs, leaning on a spear, discovered at once 
the nnnnefc of his soul, and the weaknefs of his body: when 
L. Metellus, Ser. Galba, C. Serranus, P. Rutilius, G. Fimbria, 
Q. Catulus, and all the consular senators of that time, took up 
arms for the common safety : when all the praetors, all the no- 
bility, and the whole youth of the city ran to join them, Cm 
and L. Domitius, L. Crafsus, Q,. Mucius, C. Claudius, M. Dru- 
sus: when all the Octavii, Metelli, Julii, Cafsii, Cato's, Pom- 
pey's: when L. Philippus, K Scipio, M. Lepidus, D. Brutus, 
and P. Servili as himself, the. general under whom you, Labie- 
nus, first began the trade of war : when Q. Catulus, who was 
then but very young; when C. Curio; in short, when all the 
most eminent of the city flocked to the consuls: what, I say, 
did it then become C. Rabirius to do ? Was he to lurk and shut 
himself up in private, covering his cowardice with darknefs and. 
behind walls ; or repair to the capitol, and there -afsociate himself 
with your uncle and his followers, whom the infamy of their 
lives drove to seek shelter in death ; or join Marius, Scaurus, 
Catulus, Metellus, Scsevola, in short, all the honest party, 
sharing with them not only in the means of preservation, but 
also in the hazard of resistance ? 

Sect. VIII. And here let me ask you, Labienus, how would 
you have behaved at such a time, and in such a juncture? When 
a motive of cowardice prompted you to skulk and fly; when 
the profligate fury of Saturninus invited you to the capitol; 
when, in flue, the consuls called vou to arm in defence of liberty 

II 



1jQ6. M. T. CtCERONIS ORATIQNES. 

Consules ad patriae salutem ac liber tatem vocarent : quaru tandem 
auctoritatem, quam vocem, cujus sectam sequi, cujus imperio pa- 
rere potifsimum velies ? Patruus, inquit, meus cum Batumi no 
fuit. Quid, pater quicum? quid? propinqui vestri, Equites Ro- 
man!? quid? omnis praefectura, regio, vicinitas vestrar quid? 
ager Picenus universes, utrumTribuiiitiuynfurorum, an ConsuJ- 
arem auctoritatem seciitus est r Equidem hoc afeniio, quod tu 
nunc detuopatruo praedicas, neminem unquara. ad hue de sese 
efse confefsuna ; nemo est, inquam r inventus tarn profligatus, tam 
perditus, tam ab omni non modo honestate, sed etiam simula- 
tione honestatis relictus, qui se in capitolio fuifse cum Saturnino 
fateretur. At fuit v ester patruus, fuerit; et fuerit nulla despe- 
ratione rerum suarum, nullis domesticis vulneribus coactus: in- 
duxerk eura L, Saturnini familiaritas, ut amicitiam patriae prae-, 
poneret : idcirco-ne oportuit C, Rabirium desciscere a republica ? 
non cofnparere in ilia armata multitudine bonorum ? Consilium 
voci atque imperio non obedire ? Atqui videmus, haec in rerum 
natura tria fuifse, ut aut cum Saturnino efset, aut cum boni^ : , 
aut lateret. Latere mortis erat instar turpifsimse : cum Satur- 
nino efse, furoris et sceleris: virtus et hone'stas,. et pudpr, cum. 
consulibus efse cogebat. Hoc tu igitur in crimen vocas, quod 
cum iis fuerit C. Rabirius, quos, amentifsimus, fuifset, si oppug- 
nafset ; turpifsimus, si reliquifset ? 

IX. ( ,8 ) At C. Deeianus, de quo ta saepe commemoras, quia, 
cum hominem omnibus insignem notis turpitudinis P. Furium 
accusaret, summo studio bonorum omnium, queri est ausus 
in concione de morte Saturnini, condemnatus est: Sextus 
Titius quod habuit imaginem L. Saturnini, dqmi sua?, con- 
demnatus est. Statuerunt Equites Romani illo judicio, im- 
probum civem- efse, non retinendum in civitate, qui hominis 
hostile-fir in modum seditiosi imagine aut mortem ejus honest- 
aret, aut desideria imperitorum misericordia commoveret, aut 
suam significaret imitanda? improbitatis voluntatem. Itaque 
inibi mirnm videtur, undo banc tu, Labienc, imaginem, 
quam babes, inveneris; nam Sex. Titio daumato, qui istam 
habere auderet, inventus est nemo. Quod tu si audifses, aut si 
per ajtatem scire pot uifses, uunquam profecto istam imaginem, 



(l£) At C. Decianus. . . . . Sextius Titius.~] Cicero here intimates that i .:;- 
bienus was more justly chargeable with treason than Rabirius; and adds 
proofs to support the afsertion. For Declaims was condemned for only 
bemoaning the fale of Saturninus, tho' he was. at that time engaged in a 
prosecution extremely grateful to all good men. And Sextus Titius, a man. 
of eloquence and penetration, as Cicero characterizes him, though otherwise 
innocent, and extremely popular by reason of the Agrarian law, was nevt-r- 
ihelefs condemned for having a picture of Saturninus in his hou<e. W L.r 
therefore might not Labienus expect, who had ventured to expose 1. 
lure in a public afsembly of the people. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 107 

and your country ; whose authority, whose voice, whose party, 
whose command, would have then weighed most with you ? 
My uncle, you'll say, was with Saturninus. Right : but with 
whom was your father? Your friends too, the Roman knights, 
the whole Prefecture, the neighbouring regions, with all the 
country of Picenum, did they follow the fury of the tribune, or 
the authority of the consul ? This I will venture to affirm, that 
no man ever yet co?ifcfsed of himself, what you scruple not to 
own publicly of your uncle. No one, I say, has been found so 
profligate, so lost to all sense of shame, so destitute not only of 
all honesty, but even of the appearance of honesty, as to confefs 
his having been in the capitol with Saturninus. But your uncle 
was. 'Tis allowed ; and that too without any constraint from 
domestic misfortunes, or the desperate state of his affairs. We 
shall allow that his regard for Saturninus induced him to prefer 
friendship to the love of his country. But was Rabirius 
therefore to abandon the commonwealth ? to refuse appearing 
in arms with the honest party ? to disobey the call and com- 
mand of the consul ? It is evident he had only one of three 
things to choose : either to join Saturninus, afsociate with the 
honest party, or keep himself concealed. But to lie concealed 
was worse than the vilest death ; to join Saturninus would 
have been the height of impiety and madnefs ; virtue, honour, 
and a regard for his country, constrained him to follow the 
party of the consuls. And do you then object it to Rabirius 
as a crime, that he sided with those whom it would have been 
the utmost madnefs to oppose, and in the highest degree in- 
famous to abandon ? 

Sect. IX. l3utC. Dccianus, whom you so often mention, was 
condemned for presuming to complain of the death of Saturninus 
in an afsembly of the Roman people ; though at that very 
time, with the highest satisfaction of all good men, he was ac- 
cusing P. Furius, a man branded with every mark of infamy: 
and Sextus Titius, for having a picture of him in his house, 
met with the same fate. The Roman knights by that judg- 
ment declared, that he was a bad citizen, and unworthy of tn$ 
title, who honoured the memory of a seditious and rebellious 
tribune by having his picture, or endeavoured to raise the pity 
and regret of the though tlefs multitude, or discovered an in^ 
clination to imitate so profligate an example. I cannot there- 
fore but wonder, Labienus, where you have procured that pic- 
ture ; for after the condemnation of Sextus Titius, no man dared 
to have one of them in his pofseXsion. But if you had ever 
heard of his fate, or been dd enough to know the merits of th$# 
cause, you would never sure have produced in the rostra, adU 
before an afsembly of the Roman people, a< picture that. pro v$4*. 

H2 



103; M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

quae domi posita pestem atque exsilium Sex. Titio attulifset, irt- 
rostra, atque in condone attulifses, nee tuas unquam rationed 
ad eos scopulos appulifses, ad quos Sex. Titii afflictam navem, 
et in quibus C. Deciani naufragium fortunarum videres. Sed 
in his rebus omnibus imprudentia laberis : causam enim susce- 
pisti antiquiorem memoria tua : quae causa ante mortua est, 
quam tu natus efses y qua in causa tute profectd fuifses, si per 
a'tatem efse potuifses, earn causanf in judicium vocas. An non 
intelligis, primum quos homines, et quales Viros mortuos summi 
sceleris arguas ? deinde quot ex iis qui vivunt,. eodem crimiue 
in siunmuni capitis periculum arcefsas ? Nam si C. Rabirius 
fraudem capitalem admisit, quod arma contra L. Saturninum 
tulit : huic quidem afferret aliquam deprecationem periculi 
astas ilia, qua tarn fuit : Q.. vero Catulum patrem hujus, in quo 
summa sapientia, eximia virtus, singularis humanitas fuit ; 
,M. Scaurum, ilia, gravitate, illo consilio, ilia, prudentia, duos 
^Mucios^ L. Crafsumy M. Antonium, qui turn extra urbem cum 
presidio fuit; quorum in hac civitate longe maxima consilia. 
atque ingenia fuerunt ; caeteros pari dignitate praeditos, custo- 
des, gubernatoresque reipub. quemadmodum mortuos defen- 
demus ? Quid de illis honestifsimis viris, atque optimis civibus, 
equitibus Rom. dicemus, qui turn una cum senatu salutem 
reipub. defenderunt ? quid de tribunis acrariis, caeterorumque 
atrdinum omnium hominibus, qui turn arma pro commune li- 
bertate ceperunt I 

. "X. Sed quid ego de iis omnibus, qui consulari imperio pa- 
ruerunt, loquor ? de ipsorum Cofs. tama quid futurum est ? 
L. Flaccum hominem cum semper in reipub. turn in magistra- 
tibus gerendis^ in sacerdotio cajremoniisque quibds praeerat di- 
ligentiisimum, nefarii sceleris ac parricidii mortuum condenma- 
bimus? adjun^emus, ad banc labem ignominiamque mortis 
etiam C. Marii nomen? ('9) C. Marium, quern vere patrem 
patriae, parentem, inquam, vestra? libertatis atque hujufce 
reipub. pofsumus dicere, sceleris ac parricidii nefarii mortuum 
condemuabiinus ? Etenim si C, Rabirio, quodiitad arma, cru- 
cem T. Labiemis in campo Martio defigendam putavit : quod 
tandem excogitabitur in cum snppUcium, qui vocavit ? Ac r 



(19) C. Marium patrem patriae.] Cicero here calls Marius the father of 
his country, in consideration of the many services he did" her ; but espe- 
cially when he delivered her from the ruin therewith she was threatened, 
by the irruption of the Teutones and Cimbri. It does not however appear 
from history, that Marius was so fast a friend to his country, as the title 
here given him seems to imply. On the contrary, his boundlefs ambition, 
and desire of engrofsing all commifsions of importance, proved very fatal 
to his country, and oceas-roned the civil war between him and Sylla, in 
which so Fttueit Roman- blood was *-hecL„ lint- as Cicero here defends a 
man, who was attacked for taking up arms at Marius's command, it was 



CICERo"s ORATIONS. * 109 

•se fatal to Sextus Titius ; nor hazarded yourself amon** those 
crocks where he perished, and where C. Decianns suffered a 
-shipwreck of all his fortunes. But in all this you err through 
imprudence, having undertaken ,a cause too old for your me- 
mory, and that was dead before you was born ; a cause, which 
though you now arraign, you would doubtlefs have embraced 
yourself, had you been old enough. Have you considered, in 
the first place, how many great and illustrious citizens you 
accuse, after their death, of the most consummate wickednefs? 
Have you reflected upon the number of those now living-, 
-whom by this accusation you bring into capital danger r For if 
C. Rabirius has incurred the guilt of treason, by takirfg up 
arms against L. Saturninus, his tender age at that time will yet 
in some measure plead his excuse t but how shall we be able to 
defend the memory of Q. Catulus, the father of him now pre- 
sent^ a man of consummate wisdom, distinguished virtue, and 
singular humanity ; how that of the grave, judicious, and pru- 
dent M. Scaurus ; of the two Much, L. Crafsus, and M. An- 
tony, who then lay encamped without the city ; men of the 
first reputation in this state for genius and abilities ; and of 
many others of equal merit and dignity, the guardians and 
protectors of this commonwealth ? What shall we say of those 
honourable and worthy Roman knights, who jointly with the 
senate stood up for the common safety ? what of the quaestors, 
tribunes, and citizens of all ranks who took up arms for the 
-public liberty? 

Sect. X. But why do I speak of those who obeyed the order 
of the consuls ? What will become of the reputation of the 
consuls themselves ? Shall we brand with the imputation of a 
monstrous wickednefs and parricide, the name and mempry t of 
1^ Flaccus, who in the service of his country, in the exercise 
of public offices,, in the priesthood, and in the ceremonies of 
religion over which he presided, always approved himself the 
most indefatigable of men ? Shall we stain likewise the repu- 
tation of the deceased Marius with the same ignominious re- 
proach? Shall we, I say, brand with the imputation of a 
monstrous villainy and parricide, the memory of C. Marius, 
whom we may truly style the father of his country., and the 
parent of your liberty and this commonwealth : For if 0, Ra- 
birius, for taking up arms, was by Labienus deemed worthy 
aof being nailed to a crojs in the field of Mars, what suitable 



natural for him to represent him in, the fairest light, and draw a veil over 
his infirmities. Besides, as Marius was of a plebeian family, and declared 
"himself the patron and protector of that order, his caufe was always po- 
pular, and his memory tiill dear .to the multitude. 

II 3 



110 M. T. CICEH.ONIS ORATIONES* 

( J0 ) si fides Saturnino data est, quod abs te sa?pifsime dicitur ; 
non earn C. Rabirius, sed C. Marius dedit: idemque violavit, 
si in fide not stetit. Quae fides, Labiene, qui potuit sine sena- 
tusconsnlto dari ; adeo-ne hospes hujusce urbis, adeo-ne ignarus 
es discipline, consuetudinisque nostra?, ut haec nefeias ? ut pe- 
regrinari in aliena civitate, non in tua magistratum gerere vi- 
deare? ( 2l ) Quid jam ista C. Mario, inquit, nocere pofsunt, 
quoniam sensu et vita caret ? Itane vero ? tantis in laborious 
C. Marius, pericuhsque vixifset, si nihil longius, quam vita? 
termini postulabant, se atque animo de spe et gloria sua cogi- 
tafset ? at, credo, cum innumerabiles hostium copias in Italia 
fudifset, atque obsidione rempub. liberafset, omnia sua secum 
una moritura arbitrabatur. Non est ita, Quirites; neque quis- 
quam nostrum in reipub. periculis cum laude ac virtute versa- 
tur, quin spe posteritatis fructuque ducatur. Itaque cum mul- 
tis aliis de causis, virorum bonorum mentes divinap mihi, atque 
seternae videntur efse, turn maxim e quod optimi et sapientiisimi 
cujusque animus ita praesentit in posterum, ut nihil, nisi sempi- 
ternum spectare videatur- Quapropter equidem et C. Marii, 
et Caeterorum virorum sapientifsimorum, ac fortifsimorum ci- 
vium mentes, qua? mihi videntur ex hominum vita, ad deorum 
religion em et sanctimoniam demigrafse, testpr, me pro illorum 
fama, gloria, memoria, non fecus ac pro patriis fanis atque de- 
lubris propugnandum putare : ac, si pro illorum laude mihi 
arma capienda ef'sent, non minus strenue caperem, quam illi 
pro communi salute ceperunt. Etenim Quirites, exiguum nobis 
vita? curriculum natura circumscripsit, immensum gloria?, 

XI. Quare si eos, qui jam de vita dccefserunt, ornabimus ; 
justiorem nobis mortis conditionem relinquemus. Scd si illos. 
Labiene, quos jam viclere non pqlsuiniis, negligis ; ne his 
quidem, quos vides, consuli putas oporterc r neminem efse dico 
ex iis omnibus qui illo die Roma? fuerint, quern tu diem iu 
judicium vocas, pubesque turn fuerint, quin anna ceperit, quin 
consules secutus sit ; oinnesii, quorum tu ex atate conjccturam 



(20) Si fid&s Saturnino data est. ~] Saturninus having retired to the capitol, 
Manus irfvfcsted it, and the sooner to compel him to a surrender, ordered 
the pipesthat supplied it with water to be cut. This in a short timeobliged 
him to think of submitting to the consuls, who promised to protect him 
from violence, and procure him a fair trial. He was for this purpose con- 
lined in the senate-house, but the people forcibly breaking in, mafacred 
fiim, with all his afsocir.tes. 

(21) Quid jam isfa.~\ It began to be a prevailing notion at that time, that 
death was the utter annihilation of man, and that neither honour nor dis- 
grace reached beyond the grave. Cicero here declares himself an enemy 
*o these principles, which were first publicly maintained by Epicurus, anil 
found but too many favourers both among the Greeks and" Romans. 



, CTCERo's ©RATIONS. 1]I 

punishment can be devised for those who commanded him to take 
up arms? And if the public faith was plighted to Saturninus, 
as you frequently affirm; it was plighted, not by C. Rabirius, 
but by C. Marius; and to him the violation must be ascribed, 
if any such can be made appear. But how, Labienus, could 
the public faith be plighted, w ithout a decree of the senate ? 
Are you so much a stranger to this city, so unacquainted with 
our laws and customs, as to be ignorant of the common practice 
in this respect? Sure one would take you for a sojourner in 
some foreign state, not a person bearing a magistracy in your 
own. But what harm, says he, can these reproaches do to 
C. Marius, who now ceases to live, and is no more ? And is this 
in reality your way of thinking ? Would C. Marius have lived 
in perpetual toils and dangers, if he had conceived no hopes 
concerning himself and his glory, beyond the limits of this life? 
When he defeated those innumerable enemies in Italy, and 
saved the republic, did he imagine that every thing which re- 
lated to him would die with him ? No : it is not so, citizens ; 
there is not one of us who exerts himself with praise and virtue 
in the dangers of the republic, but is induced to it by the ex- 
pectation of a futurity. As the minds of men therefore seem 
to be divine and immortal for many other reasons, so especially 
for this, that in all the best and the wisest there is so strong a 
a sense of something hereafter, that they seejn to relish nothing 
but what is eternal. I appeal then to the souls of C. Marius, 
and of all those w r ise and worthy citizens, who, from this life of 
man, are translated to the honours and sanctity of the gods ; I 
s call them, I say., to witnefs, that i think myself bound to fight 
for their fame, glory, and memory, with as much zeal, as for 
the altars .and temples of my country ; and if it were necefsary 
to take arms in defence of their praise, I should take them as 
strenuously, as they themselves did for the defence of our com- 
mon safety. For nature has circumscribed life within narrow 
limits, but proposes to us a boundleis race of glory. 

Sect. XL If then we honour those who have lived before us, 
>we leave a just claim to be honoured in our turn by posterity. 
But if, Labienus r you are unconcerned^ about those whom we 
can now behold no more ; ought you not at least to show some 
regard to those who are present before our eyes ? I will ven- 
ture to affirm, that of all those in this afsembly, who were at 
Rome on the day which you impeach, and of an age to bear a 
part in the transactions of it, there is not a man who did not 
take up arms, and follow the party of the consuls. Yet all 
these, whose number you may compute from their ages, are 
capitally impeached by you in the person of C. Rabirius, for 

H4 



112 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

facere potes, quid turn fecerint, abs te rei capitis, C. Rabirii no- 
mine citantur. At occidit Saturninum Rabirius ; utinam fecis- 
set; npn supplicium deprecarer, sed premium postularem. 
Etenim si "Scaevae-, servo Qu. Crotonis, qui occidit L. Saturninum, 
libertas data est ; quod Equiti Rom. premium dari par fuilset ? 
et si C, Marius, quod fistulas, quibus aqua suppeditabatur Jovis 
Optimi Maximi templis ac sedibus, precidi imperarat, quod in 
fclivo Capitolmo improborum civium . . . ' .° » . . . De^ 
sunt, ut videtur, non pauca. + 



113 

what they did that day. But Rabirius gave Saturninus the 
mortal blow. I wish he had : I should then be soliciting a re- 
ward, not an exemption from punishment. For if Scseva, the 
slave of Q. -Cfoto, was rewarded with freedom for having killed 
Saturninus ; what recorapence might not a Roman knight ex- 
pect? And if C. Marius, for ordering the pipes to be cut that 
supplied the temple of the great Jupiter with water, because 
the capitol was in the hands of profligate citizens . . ._ . , 
.....,., The rest of this oration is lost. 



ORATIO IV. 



i. IN L. CATILINAM*. 



I. /^UOUSQJJE tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra ? 
V^ quamdiu etiam furor iste tuus nos* eludet? quem ad 
iinem sese effrenata jactabit audacia? nihil-ne ( r ) nocturnum 
presidium palatii, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil 
consensus bonorum omnium, nihil hie munitifsimus habendi 
senatCis locus, nihil horum ora vultusque moverunt? patere tua 



* L. Sergius Catiline was of Patrician extraction, and had sided with 
Sylla, during the civil wars between him and ftlarius. Upon the "expira- 
tion of his praHorship, he was sent to the government of Africa; and after 
his return, was accused of mal-adminktration .by P. Clodius, under the 
consulship of M. Emilins Lepidus, and jL. Volcatius Tullus. It is com- 
monly believed, that the design of the conspiracy was formed about this 
time, three years before the ^oration Cicero here pronounces against it. 
Catiline, after his return from Africa, had sued for the consulship, but was 
rejected. The two following years he likewise stood candidate, but still 
met with the same fate. It appears that he made a fourth attempt, under 
the consulship of Cicero, who made use of all his credit and authority to 
exclude him, in which be succeeded to his wish. After the picture Salust 
has drawn of Cataline, it were needlefs to attempt his character here; be- 
sides that the four following orations will make the reader sufficiently ac- 
quainted with it. The first speech was pronounced in the senate, con- 
vened in the temple of Jupiter Stator, on the eighth of November, in the 
sixth hundred and ninth year of the city, and forty-fourth of Cicero's a 
The occasion of it was as follows: Catiline, and the other conspirators, 
Ixad met together in the house of one Marcus Lecca ; where it was resolved, 
that a general insurrection should be raised through Italy, the different 
parts of which wereafsigned to different leaders; that Catiline should put 
himself at the head of the troops in Etruria ; that Home should be lired in ; 
many places at once, and a mafsaere begun at the same time of the whole 
senate and all their enemies, or" whom none were to be spared except the 
sons of Pomney, who were to be kept as hostages of their peace and re- 
conciliation with the father; that in the consternation of the lire and 
mafsaere, Catiline should be ready with his Tuscan army to take the be- 
nelit of the public confuVton, and make himself master of the city ; where 
Lcntulus in the mean while, as first in dignity, was to preside in their ge- 
nera] councils ; Gafsius to manage the altair of tiring it ; Cethegus to di- 
rect the mafsaere. }\\il the vigilance of Cicero being the chief obstacle, to 
all t he, i u hopes, Catiline was very desirous to see him ta^en off before he 
left Home ;> upon which two knights of the company undertook to kill 
"firm Lfee next morning in h's bed, In an early visit on pretence of businefs. 
They were both of his acquaintance, and used to frequent his house, and 
knowing, his custom of giving free accefs to all, made no doubt of being 
readily admitted, as C. Cornelius, one of the two, afterwards conk 
The meeting was no sooner over, than Cicero had information of all that 



ORATION IV. 



AGAINST CATILINE. 



Sect. I. TTOW far, O Catiline, wilt thou abuse, our pa-, 
XX tience?'How long shall thy frantic rage baffle 
the" efforts of justice ? To what height meanestthou to carry 
thy daring insolence? Art thou nothing daunted by the noc- 
turnal watch posted to secure the Palatium ? nothing by the 



pafeed in it ; for by the intrigues of a woman named Fulvia, be had gained 
over Curius her gallant, one of the conspirators of senatorial rank, to send 
him a punctual account of all their deliberations. He presently imparted 
his intelligence to some of the chiefs of the city, who were afsembled that 
evening, as usual, at his house, informing them not only of the design, but 
naming the men who were to execute it, and the very h©ur when they 
would be at his gate; all which fell out exactly as he foretold ; for the two 
knights came before break of day; but had the mortification to find the 
house well guarded, and all admittance refused to them. Next day Cicero 
summoned ihe senate to the temple of Jupiter in the capitol, where it was 
not usually held but in times of public alarm. There had been several de- 
bates before this on the same subject of Catiline's treasons, and his design 
of killing the consul ; and a decree had pafsed at the motion of Cicero, to 
offer a public reward to the first discoverer of the plot ; if a slave, his li- 
berty, and eight hundred pounds; if a citizen, his pardon, and sixteen 
hunched. Yet Catiline, by a profound difsimulation, and the constant 
profefsions of his innocence, still deceived many of all ranks; representing 
the whole as the fiction of his enemy Cicero, and offering to give security 
for his behaviour, and to deliver himself to the custody of any whom the 
senate would name ; of M. Lepidus, of the praetor Metellus, or of Cicero 
himself: but none of them would receive him ; and Cicero plainly tolc^ 
him, that he should never think himself safe in the same house, when he 
was in danger by living in the same city with him. Yet he still kept on 
the mask, and had the confidence to come to this very meeting in the ca- 
pitol, which so shocked the whole afsembly, that none even of his ac- 
quaintance durst venture to salute him ; and the consular senators quitted 
that part of the house in which he sat, and left the whole bench clear to 
him. Cicero war so provoked by his impudence, that instead of entering 
upon any businefs, as he designee!, addrefsing himself directly to Catiline, 
he broke out into the present most severe invective against him ; and, with 
all the fire and force of an incensed eloquence, laid open the whole course 
of his villanies, and the notoriety of his treasons. 

(1) Nocturnum presidium palaiii.~\ The Romans had no standing army 
at this time, nor any regular guards within the city; but on tht discovery 
of this conspiracy, they had placed a strong garrison in the Palatium, 
which was the highest hill in Borne, and s erved as a citadel. At the 
same tim^, they ordered several parties to patrole through the streets, 
under the command of the sediles, and other inferior magistrates, to pre- 
vent the conspirators setting fire to the city in the night. 



116 ■ ■ M. T. CICI/RONIS ORATIONES. 

eonsilia non sentis ? constrictam jam omnium liorum conscientia 
teneri conjurationem tuam non vides ? quid proxima, quid su- 
periore nocte egeris, ubi Iberis, qiios convocaveris, quid consi- 
}ii ceperis, quern nostrum ignorare arbitraris ? O tempora ! 6 
mores! Senatus tec iritelligit, consul videt: hie tamen rivit; 
vivit ? imo vero etiam in Senatum venit : fit publici consilii par- 
ticeps : notat ?J et designat o.eulis ad csedem -unumquemque nos- 
trum. Nos autem viri fortes satisfacere reipublicae videmur, si 
i-stius furorem ac tela vitemus. Ad mortem te, Catilina, duci 
jutsu consulis jampridem oportebat: in te conferri pestem istam, 
-quam tu in nosomnes jamdm. machinaris. An vero vir amplis- 
siraus, P~ Scipio, pontifex maximus, Tib. Gracchum mediocri- 
ter labefactantem statem reipublicae privatus interfeeit : Catili- 
nam vero orbem terrae ca de atque incendiis vastare -cupientem 
nos eoasules perferemus }/ nam ilia nimis antiqua praetereo, 
(*) quod Q. Servilius Ahala Sp. Meliiim novis rebus studentem 
jnanu sua occidit Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac republica vir- 
tus, ut viri fortes acrionbus suppliers civem perniciosum, quam 
acerbifsimum hostem coercerent. ""p) HabeniuKenim senatus- 
consultum in tc, Catilina, vehemens et grave/ non deest reipub- 
lica? consilium, neque auctqritas hujus .ordmis : nos, nos, dico 
aperte, consules desumus. 

IL. Decrevit quondam Senatus ut L. Opimius Cos. videret, ne 
quid respublica detrimenti caperet : nox nulla interceisit : inter- 
fectus est propter quasdam seditionum suspiciones C. Gracchus, 
clarifsimo patre natus, avis, majoribus : occisus est cum liberis 
<(*■) M. Fulvius, consularis. Simili senatdsconsulto, C Mario 

(2) Quod Q. Servilius Ahala Sp. Mekum.'} When the city of Rome was 
afflicted with a great famine, Sp. Melius, a Roman knight, the richest man 
ill the city, bought up great quantities of com throughout Tuscany, and 
freely distributed it among the poorer citizens. This gained their affection. 
and ^encouraged Melius to aspire to the sovereign power. T. Quinctius 
.Cincimiatus, being named dictator by the senate, to crush Melius, sent 
his general of the horse, Q. Servilius Ahala, to summon him to appear at 
his tribunal, to answer the accusations brought against him. Melius re- 
fusing to come, and calling the mob to his assistance, Servilius ran him 
through the body, and thus stopped his ambitious designs. This happened 
in the three hundred and fourteenth year of Rome, which was three hun- 
dred and seventy-six years before Cicero's consulship. 

(3) Habenmsenim senatuscomultwu in tc, Cat i Una, vehemens et grave.'] 
The Roman consuls had a very small share of the executive authority in 

their hands: they were obliged, oji every <xxask>n, to lay the affair before 
the .senate, whose orders they were obliged to execute. But in extraordi- 
nary cases, the senate made an act, that the consuls should take care that 
the commonwealth received no detriment ; by which xvords they gave ab- 
solute power to the consuls to raise armies, and do whatever they thought 
proper for the public interest, without having recourse to the senate's ad- 
vice. By this, they were in effect created dictators ; so that Cicero had 
at s his time sufficient power to seize Catiline and his accomplices, and try 
them, without calling a senate: but lie chose not to exert his- authority, 
to avoid the odium which might be cast upon him, and for other rci 
laid down in the sequel of this oration. 



S ORATIONS, 117 

city guards ? nothi. ;onsternation of the people ? no- 

thing by the union 01 ise and worthy citizens £ nothing 

by the senate's afsembh. this place of strength ? nothing 

by the looks and countenai** s of all here present ^ Seest thou 
not that all thy designs are brought to light r that the senators 
are thoroughly apprized of thy conspiracy ?, that they are ac- 
quainted with thy last night's practices ; with the practices of 
the night before ; with the place of meeting, the company 
summoned together, and the measures concerted ? Alas, for our 
degeneracy! alas, for the depravity of the times! The senate 
is apprized of all this, the consul beholds it ; yet the traitor 
lives. Lives ! did I say ? he even comes into the senate ; he shares 
in the public deliberations ; he marks us out with his eye for 
destruction. While we, bold in our country's cause, think we 
have sufficiently discharged our duty to the state, if we can but 
escape his rage and deadly darts. > Long since, O Catiline, 
ought the consul to have ordered thee for execution; and 
pointed upon thy own head that ruin thou hast been long me- 
ditating against us all.) Could that illustrious citizen Publius 
Scipio, sovereign pontiff, but invested with no public magistracy, 
kill Tiberius Gracchus for raising some slight commotions in the 
commonwealth ; and shall we consuls suffer Catiline to live, 
who aims at laying waste the world with fire and sword? I 
omit, as too remote, the example of Q. Servilius Ahala, who 
with his own hand slew Spurius Melius, for plotting a revolu- 
tion in the state. Such, such was the virtue of this republic in 
former times, that her brave sons punished more severely a 
factious citizen, than the most inveterate public enemy. We 
have a weighty and vigorous decree of the senate against you, 
Catiline : the commonwealth wants not wisdom, nor this house 
authority : but we, we the consuls, I speak it openly, are want- 
ing in our duty. 

Sect. II. A decree once pafsed in the senate, enjoining the 
the consul L. Opimius to take care that the commonwealth re- 
ceived no detriment. The very same day Caius Gracchus wa$ 
killed for some slight suspicions of treason, though descended 
of a father, grandfather, and ancestors, all eminent for their 
services to the state. Marcus Fulvius too, a man of consular 



(4) M. Fulvius, consularis.'] This matt, though formerly a consul, joined 
with Cams Gracchus in his attempt to divide the lands, and was named 
one of the three commifsioners for that purpose. They went on for some 
time, carrying every thing before them in the assemblies of the people, in 
spite of the senate, and all the nobility. But one of the consul's iictors 
being killed by some of the attendants of Gracchus, the senate gave Opi- 
mius full power to do as he thought best for the goad of the state. The 
consul commanded all the nobility, with their clients, to appear in arms 
next morning in the forum, whence he marched at their head to attack 
Cnal ' I- > hid bled several thousands of the lower 



118 T. M. CICERON' 

et L. Valerio Cofs. pcrmifsa e? anum diem postea 

( 5 ) L. Saturninum tribunur - : oervilium Prsetorem 

mors ac reip. poena remor vigesimum jam diem 

patimur hebescere aciem l ;am auet ritatis ; habemus enim 
hujusmodi senatCisconsultum, . men inciusum in tabulis, 

tanquam gladium in vagina reconu. am quo ex senatus consulto 
confestim interfectum te efse, Catilina, convenit. Vivis, et 
vivis non ad deponendam, sed ad confirmandam audaciam. 
Cupio, P. C. me efse clementem^ cupio in tantis reipublica? 
periculis non difsolutum videri: sed jam me ipsum iiiertise ne- 
quitiseque condemno. Gastra sunt in Italia contra rempubl. - ill 
Etrurian faucibus collocata: crescit in dies singulos hostium nume- 
rus : eorum autem imperatorem castrorum ducemque hostium 
intra mcenia, atque adeo in senatu videmus, intestinam aliquam 
quotidie perniciem reipublicae molientem. Si te jam, Catilina, 
comprehendi, h" interncr, jufsero, credo, erit verendum mihi, ne 
non hoc potius ( 6 ) omnes boni serius a me, quam qv.isquam 
crudelius factum efse dicant. Ver.um ego hoc, quod jampri- 
dem factum efse oportuit, certa. de causa nondum adducor, ut 
faciam ; turn denique interficiere', cum jam nemo tarn improbus, 
tarn perditus, tarn tui simiiis inveniri poterit, qui id non jure 
factum efse fateatur. Quaindiu quisquam erit qui te defendere 
audeat, vives : et vives ita, ut nunc vivis, multis meis et firmis 
praesidiis obsefsus, ne commovere te contra rempublicam pofsis ; 
multorum te etiam oculi et aures non sentientem, sicut adhuc 
fecerunt, speculabuntur atque custodient. 

III. Etenim quid est, Catilina, quod jam amplius expectes, si 
neque nox tenebris obscurare ccetus nefarios, nee privata domus 
parietibus continere voces conjurationis tuae potest? si illustran- 
tur, si erumpunt omnia? Muta jam istam mentem : mihi crede : 
obliviscere casdis, atque incendiorum; teneris undique: luce 
sunt clariora nobis tua consilia omnia, quae etiam inecum licet 
recognoscas. Meministi-ne me ante diem xn Kalend. Novemb. 
dicere in senatu, fore in armis certo die, qui dies futurus efset 
ante diem vi Kal. Novembris, C. Manlium audacice satelliteiu 



rank on the Aventine mount. The affarr came to blows, and Gracchus, 
Fulvius, and his sons were slain, with three thousand of their followers, in 
the year of the city six hundred and thirty-one. 

(5^) L Saturnimwi et C. Ssrvilium prcetorem.'] These two having killed 
a senator in a tumult, were declared enemies by the senate, who com- 
manded Marcus to bring them to justice. The consul, armed with dicta- 
torial power, attacked them in the capitol, and obliged them to surren- 
der, with all their followers; after which they were stoned to death by 
the mob, before they were brought to a trial, "in the year six hundred an<i 
thirty-four. 

(6) /fines boni:'] By, good men he' means the sincere lovers of their 
country, and such as were anxious to prevent the mischiefs wherewith it 



dignity, with his children, underwent the same fate, 
decree of, the senate, the care of the commonwealth wu& 
mitted to the consuls C. Marius and L. Valerius. Was a single 
day permitted to pafs, before L. Saturninus, tribune of the peo- 
ple, and C. Servilius the praetor, satisfied by their death the 
justice of their country ? But we, for these twenty days, have 
suffered the authority of the senate to languifh in our hands. 
For we too have a like decree, but it rests among our records 
like a sword in the scabbard : a decree, O Catiline, by which you 
ought to have suffered immediate, death. Yet still you live : 
nay more, you live, not to lay aside, but to harden yourself in 
your audacious guilt. I could wish, conscript fathers, to be 
merciful ; 1 could wish not to appear remifs when my country 
is threatened with danger ; but now I begin to reproach myself 
with negligence and want of courage. A camp is formed in 
Italy, upon the very borders. of Etruria, against the common- 
wealth. The enemy increase daily in number. At the same 
time we behold their general and leader within our walls ; nay, 
in the senate-house itself, plotting daily some intestine mischief 
against the state. Should I order you, Catiline, to be instantly 
seized and put to death, I have reason to believe, I should ra- 
ther be reproached with slownefs than cruelty. But at present 
certain reasons restrain me from this step, which indeed ought 
to have been taken lopg ago. Thou shalt then suffer death, 
when not a' man is to be found, so wicked, so desperate, so like 
thyself, as not to own it was done justly. As long as there is 
one who dares to defend thee, thou shalt live ; and live so as 
thou now dost, surrounded by the numerous and powerful 
guards which I have placed about thee, so as not to suffer thee 
to stir a foot against the republic ; whilst the eyes and ears of 
many shall watch thee, as they have hitherto done, when thou 
little thoughtest of it. 

Sect. III. But what is it, Catiline, thou canst now have in 
View, if neither the obscurity of night can conceal thy traiter- 
ous afsemblies, nor the walls of a private house prevent the? 
voice of thy treason from reaching our ears ? if all thy pro- 
jects are discovered, and burst into public view? Quit then 
your detestable purpose, and think no more of mafsacres and 
conflagrations. You are beset on all hands ; your most se- 
cret counsels are clear as noon-day: as you may easily ga- 
ther, from the detail I am now to give you. \You may remem- 
ber that on the nineteenth of 'October last, I said publicly 
in the senate, that before the twenty-fifth of the same month. 



was thre' ned. The meaning therefore is, that should he order him to 
be put *h, no sincere lover of his country would charge him wich 

Cjcoelt; °r think he ought to have done it sooner. 



M. T. ClCERONIS ORATfONES. 

e administrum tuae? ( 7 ) num me fefellit, Catilina, non mod<5 
*es tanta, tam atrox, tarn incredibilis, verum id quod multo ma- 
gis est admirandum, dies? Dixi ego idem in senatu, caedem te 
optimatum contulifse in ante diem v Kal. Novembris, turn, cum 
multi principes civitatis Roma, non tam sui conservandi, quam 
tuorum consiliorum reprimendorum causa, profugerunt. Num 
inficiari potes, te illo ipso die meis praesidiis, raea diligenfca cir- 
cumclusium,commovere te contra rempublicam non potuiise 5 cuni 
tu discefsu caeterorum, nostra tamen, qui remansifsemus, caecie 
contentum te efse dicebas. Quid ? cum te Praeneste Kalend. ipsis 
Novemb. occupaturum nocturno impetu efse confideres ; sensisti- 
ne illam coloniam meo jufsu, meis praesidiis, custodiis, vigiliisque 
efse munitam? nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas, quod ego 
non modo non audiam, sed etiam non videam, planeque sentiam. 



IV. Recognosce tandem mecum illam superiorem noctcm ; 
jam intelliges multo me vigilare acrius ad falutem, quam te ad 
perniciem reipublicae. Dico te priori nocte venifse (°) inter 
Falcarios (non agam obscure) in M. Leccae domum : convenifse 
eodem complures ejusdem amentiae scelerisque socios ; num ne- 
gare audes? quid taces? convincam, sinegas; video enim efse 
hie in senatu quosdam, qui tecum una fuere. O dii immor- 
tales! ubinam gentium sumus ? quam reinpub. habemus? in qua 
urbe vivimus? hie, hie sunt, in nostio numero, P. C. in hoc 
crbis terras sanctiisimo gravii'simoque consilio, qui de meo, nos- 
trumque omnium interitu, qui de hujus urbis, atque adco orbis 
terrarum exitio cogitent ; hosce ego video consul, et de rep. 
^ententiam rogo : et quos ferro trucidari oporfebat, cos non- 
duih voce vulnero. Fuisti igitur apud Leccam ea nocto, Catilina : 
distribuisti partes Italia: : statuisti quo quemque proficisci pla- 
ceret : delegisti quos Romae relinqueres, quos tecum educeres : 
descr psisti urbis partes ad incendia : contirmfisti, te ipsum 
jam else exiturum : dixisti paululum tibi else etiam turn m 
quod ego viverem. (9) Reperti sunt duo equitcs Roman 1 qui 



(7) Num. me fefellit .~\ Cicero here intimates, that he was perfectly a - 
qvniinted with all Catiline's deigns; and we learn from Salh"-t. 1 hnt he had 
his intelligence from Ful via, with whomCurius, a conspirator of senatorian. 
rank, had an intrigue, and to whom he disclosed ail the counsels oi Uie 
conspiracy. 

(8) Inter Falcarios.'] This is by some translated the street of reapers ; 
by others, the street of armourers: for cenfjie fnfer Falcarios denotes 
the same, as venifse in locum ubi sunt Falcarii ; and the word may be in- 
terpreted either way. 

(y) Reperti sunt duo equites Romani.~\ Authors differ much as to the names 
of these two knights. Sallust mentions C. Cornelius a Roma and 

L. Yargunteius a senator; in which he disagrees with Cicero, who su\>they 
were both knights. Plutarch names them Margins and Ceth«- ^us. But in 
this he must certainly have been mistaken, since Cicero else" exj 1 

airirrns, that Cornelius was on? of them- It is true, Cor 1 bame 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 121 

C. Manlfus, the confederate and creature* of your guilt, would 
appear in arms. Was I deceived, Catiline, s I say not as to this 
enormous, this detestable, this improbable attempt ; but, which 
is still more surprising, as to the vefy day on which it hap- 
pened ? I said likewise, in the senate 1 , that you had fixed the 
twenty-sixth of the same month for the mafsacre of our nobles, 
which induced many citizens of the first rank to retire from 
Rome, not so much on account of their own preservation, as 
with a view to baffle your designs. Can you deny, that on 
that very same day you was so beset by my vigilance, and the 
guards I placed about you, that you found it impofsible to at- 
tempt any thing against the state: though you had given out, 
after the departure of the rest, how you would neverthelejs ... 
content yourself with the blood of those that remained ?/Nay, 
when on the first of November, you confidently hoped to sur- 
prise Praeneste by night, did you not find that colony secured 
by my orders, and the guards, officers, and garrison I had ap- 
, pointed ? There is nothing you either think, contrive, or at- 
tempt, but what I both hear, see, and plainly understand. 

Sect. IV. Call to mind only, in conjunction with me, the 
transactions of last night. You will soon perceive, that I am 
much more active in. watching over the preservation, then you 
in plotting the destruction of the state. I say then, and say it 
openly, that last night you went to the house of M. Lecca, in 
the street called the Gladiators ; that you .was met thexe by 
numbers of your afsociates in guilt and madnefs. Dare you 
deny this ? why are you silent ? If you disown the charge, I 
will prove it : for I see some in this very afsembly, who were 
of your confederacy. Immortal gods ! what country do we 
i- 1 'bit? what city do we belong to? what government do we 
ticler ? Here, here, conscript fathers, within these walls, 
afsembly, the most awful and venerable upon earth, 
meditate my ruin and yours; the destruc- 
tion '-isequently of the world itself. Myself, 
your beuw c 2se men, and ask their opinions on public 
affairs nstead of dooming them to immediate execution, 
do not £ as wound them with my tongue. You went then 
that nigt line, to the house of Lecca; you cantoned out 
all Italy ; ^pointed the place to which every one was to 
repair; yc led out those who were to be left at Rome, 
and those v e to accompany you in person; you marked 
out the pa gue city destined to conflagration ; you de- 



also belongin thegus ; but it is evident that- the C. Cornelius here 

spoken of w; te different person from C. Cornelius Cethegus. For 

Cethegus was led in prison, but this Cornelius was alive at the time 

*vhen Cicero d P. Sylla. And here, as it is sometimes of jrreat im- 

portance to c ie errors of learned men, to prevent others from fall- 

I 



122: 



M. T. CICEROSfts ORATIONES 



te ista eura liberarent, et sese ilia ipsa nocte paufe ante* lucent 
me in meo lectulo interfectnros poHicerentur. Haic ego omnia r 
vix dum etiam ceetu vestro dirnifso, comperi: domum meam 
majoribus preesidiis munivi, atque firmavi ; exclusi eos, quos 
tu mane ad me saliitatum raisefas, cum illi ipsi venifsent, quos 
e^o jam raullisviris ad me venturosidtemporis efsepraxlixeram. 

V. Q.1133 ( l0 ) cum ita sint, Catilina, perge quo ccepisti: egre- 
dere a'iquando ex urbe: patent porta?, prohciscere : nimium 
din te imperatorem ilia tua Manliana castra desiderant; ediie 
tecum .etiam omnes tues;; si minus, quamplunmos : purga 
urbem : magno me mefcu iiberabis, dummodo inter me atque 
te murus intersit : nobiscum versari jam diutius non potes : 
non feram, non patiar, non- sinam..- Magna diis immortalibus' 
habenda est gratia, atque hiiie ipsi Jovi Statori, antiquifsimo. 
custodi hujus urlTis, quod banc taur retrain,* tam hombilem, 
tamque infestam reipublieaj pestem toties jam effugimus. Non 
est suepius in- uno-bomine saius summa periciitanda reipublicae. 
Quamdiu mibi, consult designato, Catilina, insidiatus es, non-. 
publico me prscsidio, sed privata diligentia defend! ; euro- 
proximis comitiis consularibus me consulem in cauipo, et com- 
petitors tuos interricere voluisti, comprefsi tuos nefarios cona- 
tus amicorum prasidio et copiis, nullu timmltu publice conci- 
tato : denique quotiescumque me petisti, per me tibi obstiti ; 
quamquam videbam perniciem meam cum magna calamitate 
reipublicae efse conjunctam. Nunc jam aperte remnirbficam 
universam petis ; templa deoruni immortalium, tec 
vitam omnium civium, Italiam denique totam, ad c 
vastitatem vocas.. Quare quoniam id, quod primu 
hujus imperii, disciplinable Major um pmprium est, f; 
audeo ; faciairi id quod est ad severitatem lenius, 
munem salutem ittilius; nam si te intcrnci jufse- 
bit in republica reliqua conjuratorum mantis: sint . 
jamduduui hortor, exieris ; exbaurietur ex urbe tu 



bis, 
n et 

tque 
; non 
com- 



ing into ihe same mistakes, 1 cannot forbear observing^ that 
account of* this transaction, has committed three unpardc 
First,. he tells us, that this resolution was not taken, till aft 
left the city. Secondly, he makes the two persons who u 
Cicero to be P. Lentuius, and C. Cethegus. But Cicero su 
have called them two Roman knights, had Lentulus, at t 
been one of them. The third error committed by App : 
that Cethegus was praetor; according to which both t! 
have been of senaforian rank. But it is apparent, that 
prxtor at this time, otherwise the formality observed wi' 
tulus, of obliging him to abdicate that magistracy, bef 
death, would likewise have been practised in the case of ( 
we no where read of; nor was it, I believe, ever suggest 
above-mentioned writer. 

(10) Qua- cum ita sint.'] The force of fheargument lie 
his counsels and treasonable designs were discovered, i 
for him to continue longer in the city, \\ here he must n 



i. in .hi* 

lunders. 

hue had 

k to kill 

uld never 

ie pnetor^ 

in saying 

IV ins must; 

us was not 

.>ct to Len- 

was put to 

as. Bui 

any but the 

iSj that as all 
o no purpose 
expect to &0 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. l'2Q 

dared your purpose of leaving it soon, and said you only 
waited a little to see me taken off. Two Roman knights un- 
dertook to ease you of that care, and afsafsinate me the same 
night in bed before day-break. Scarce waS your afsemhly dis- 
imised., when I was informed of all this : I ordered an addi- 
" tional guard to attend^ to secure my house from afsault ; I re- 
fused admittance to those whom you sent to compliment me in 
the morning; and declared to many worthy persons before- 
hand, who they were, and at what time I expected them. 

Sect. V. Since therij Catiline, such is the state of your af- 
fairs, finish what you have begun ; quit the city : the gates are 
open ; nobody opposes your retreat. ' The troops in Manlius's 
camp long to put themselves under your command.: Carry 
with you" all your confederates; if not all, at least as many as 
pofsible. Purge the city :. it will take greatly from my fears* 
to be divided from you by a wall. You cannot pretend to stay- 
any longer with tfs : I will not bear, will not suffer* will not allow 
of it.- Great thanks are due to the immortal gods, apd chiefly 
to thee, Jupiter Stator, the ancient protector of this city, for 
having alreadyso often preserved us from this dangerous, this 
destructive, this pestilent scourge of his country. The supreme 
safety of the commonwealth ought not to be again and again 
exposed to danger for the sake of a single man. While I was 
only consul elect, Catiline, I contented myself with guarding 
against your many plots, not by a public guard, but by my 
private vigilance. When at the last election of consuls, you 
had resolved to afsafsinate me, and your competitors in the 
field of Mars, I defeated your wicked purpose by the aid of 
my friends, without disturbing the public peace:/ In a word* 
as often as you attempted my life, I singly opposed your fury* 
though I well saw, that my death would necefsarily be attended 
with many signal calamities to the state. But now you openly 
strike at the very being of the, republic < The temples of the 
immortal gods, the mansions of Rome, the lives of her citizens* 
and all the provinces of Italy, are doomed to slaughter and 
devastation. ."Since therefore I dare not pursue that course* 
which is most agreeable to ancient discipline* and the genius of 
the Commonwealth* I will follow another, lefs severe indeed as 
to the criminal, but mere useful in its consequences to the pub- 
lic. For should I order you to be immediately put to death, the 
commonwealth would still harbour in its bosom the other con- 
spirators ; but by driving you from the city, I shall clear Rome 



all his measures defeated. The best course therefore he could take, both 
for his own safety, and to give vigour to his other designs, was to leave the 
city, where his presence could no longer be of any service. Cicero, in this 
whole expostulation, makes use of short, abrupt, and imperfect sentences; 
a language peculiarly adapted to inspire terror, and give force to command* 

I 2 



124 M. f . CICERONIS ORAtflONES. 

turn magna et perniciosa sentina reipublicee. Quid est, Cat:- 
lina ? nam dubitas id, me imperante, facere, quod jam tua 
sponte faciebas ? exire ex urbe consul hostem jubet; interrogas 
me, ntim in exsilium? non jubeo: sed, si me consulis suadeo. 

VI. ( n ) Quid enim, Catiiiiia, est,' quod te jam in bac uvbe 
delectare pofsit, in qua nemo est extra istam conjurationem per- 
ditorum bominum, qui te nori ■ m^tuat, nemo qui te non oderit ? 
quae nota domestic* turpitudinis noninusta vitte tuse eft? quod 
privatarum rerum dedecus non haeret infamise; quae libido ab 
oculis, quod facinus a. manibirs unquairi. tuis, quod fiagitium a 
toto corpore abfuit ? cui tu adolescentulo, quern corruptelarum 
illecebris irretivifses, non aut ad audaciam ferrum, aut ad libi- 
dinem facem praetulisti ? quid vero ?" nuper, cum mdrte superioris 
vixoris, novis nuptiis clomum vacuam tecifses, non-ne etiam alio 
incredibili scelere hoc scelusciimulasti ? qiiod ego praetermitto, 
et facile patior sileri, ne in bac civitate tanti facinoris immanitas 
aut extitifse aut non vindicata efse videatur. Praetermitto ruinas 
fortunaru-m tuarum,quas omnes impendere tibi proximis Idibus 
senties ; ad ilia v'enio, quae non ad privatum ignominiam vitiorum 
tuorum, non ad domesticam tuam difficultatem ac turpitudinem; 
sed ad summam rempub. atque ad omnium nostrum vitem sa- 
lutemque pertinent. \ Potest-ne tibi hcee lux, Catilina, aut hujus 
cceji spiritus efse jucundus, cum, scias horum efse neminem, qui 
nesciat te ( l2 ) Pridie kalendas Januar. Lepido et Tullo Cofs. 
s etifse in Comitio cum telo? manum, consilium et priricipum 
civitatis interficiendorum causa, paravifse ? sceleri, ac furori tuo 
non mentem aliquam, auttimorem tunm, sed fortunam reipub- 
licae obstitifse ? Ac jam ilia omitto: neque enim sunt aut ob- 
seura, aut ronmulta postea commifsa ; quoties tu me designatum, 
cjuoties eon su'em inter licere conatus esr quot ego tuas petitionee 



*r (1 iytyuid enim, Caiilina.~\ He here Jars aside the character of consul, and 
afsumes that of a friend and advifer; that what he afterwards sa^ 
not appear the result of hatred, b«t to flow from a companion for Ca 
He therefore counsels him to leave the eity,as he could no longer hope for any 
real enjoyment of life in a place, where he hated every body, and was him- 
>elf hated by all ^ where he was cpntiuually encountering objects that ex- 
cited his envy ; where he was overwhelmed with an insurmountable load 
of debt; and where all the treasonable designs against the commonwealth 
Tv-ere fully known. Yet this seeming friendly admonition contains at the 
same time a very bitter invective against Catiline. 

(12) Pridiv calendas Jammrias.~] in the consulship of M. Emilius Lepi- 
dus and L: Volcatius Tullus, P Autronius and P. Cornelius Sylla were 
elected consuls for the year ensuing; but being convicted o\ bribery, thev 
were deposed, and L. Aurelius Colla, with L. Mauliws Torquatus, chosen. 
m their stead. Catiline, who had been convielt'd of extortion upon an 
accusation of P. Clodius, and forbid to stand candidate for the consulship, 
fired with indignation at the affront he had received, entered into a con- 
spiracy with Autronius, Sylla, and several others o^ the nobility, to murder 
the consuls on the last da\ of December, reinstate those that had been 
deprived, and aisume the government of the commonwealth. But Crafcus, 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 12-5 

at once of all the whole baneful tribe of thy accomplices. How, 
Catiline ? Do you hesitate to do at my command, what you 
was so lately about to do of your own accord ? The consul or- 
ders a public enemy to depart the city. You ask whether this 
be a real banishment? I say not exprefsly so: but was I to ad- 
yise in the case, 'tis the best course you can take. ' 

Sect. VI. For what is there, Catiline, that can now give you 
pleasure in this city ? wherein, if we except the profligate crew 
of your accomplices, there is not a man but dreads and abhors 
you? Is there a domestic stain from which your character is 
exempted? jHave you not rendered yourself infamous by every 
vice that can brand private life ? What scenes of lust have not 
your eyes beheld, what guilt has not stained your hands, what 
pollution has not defiled your whole body ? What youth, en- 
tangled by thee in the allurements of debauchery, hast thou not 
prompted by arms t,o\ deeds of violence, or seduced by incen- 
tives into the snares of sensuality ? iAnci lately,, when, by pro- 
curing the death of your former wife, you had made room in 
your house for another, did you not add to the enormity of that 
crime, by anew and unparalleled measure of guilt? But I pafs 
over this, and choose to let it remain in silence, that the memory 
of so monstrous a piece of wickednefs, or at least of its having 
been committed with impunity, may not descend to posterity. 
I pafs over too the entire ruin of your fortunes, which you are 
sensible must befall you the very next month ; and shall proceed 
to the mention of such particulars, as regard not the infamy of 
your private character, nor the distrefses and turpitude of your 
domestic life ; but such as concern the very being of the re- 
public, and the lives and safety of us all. Yf Can the light of 
life, or the air you breathe, be grateful to you, Catiline; when 
you are conscious there is not a man here present but knows, , 
that on the last of December, in the consulship of Lepidus 
and Tullus, you appeared in the Comitium with a dagger ? 
that you had got together a band of ruffians, to afsafsinate the 
consuls, and the most considerable men in Rome? and that this 
execrable and frantic design was defeated, hot by any awe or 
remorse in you, but by the prevailing good* fortune of the 
people of Rome? But! pafs over those things, as being already 
well known : there are others of a later date. How many at- 
tempts have you made upon my, life, since I was nominated 
consul, and since I entered upon the actual execution of that 

one of the conspirators, not coming to ftie afsembly of the people that day, 
all d Julius Csesar, who was likewise in the plot, not Uun king proper to 
«ive the signal agreed upon, of letting his robe drop from ,l *fri^.sboulder, the 
affair was put or? to the fifth of February; when again the^project failed, 
through the too great eagernefs of Catiline, who gave the signal before all 
• — cn ! r, ! f "t$ were afsembled, 

* 13 



l£| M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ita conjectas, ut vitari pofse non viderentur, parva quadam de 
clinatione, et, ut aiunt, cor pore efrugi ? nihil agis, nihil afte-- 
queris, nihil moliris, quod mihi latere valeat Ai tempore : neque 
tamen conari ac velle desistis. Quoties jam tibi extorts est sica 
ista de manibus ? quoties vero excidit casu aliquo, et eiapsa 
est? tamen e a carer e diutius non potes: quae qu idem qui bus 
afys te initiata sacris ac devota sit, nescio, quod earn neceise • 
putas Cpnsulis in corpore defigere. 

VII. Nunc yero, qu35 tua est ista vita ? sic enim jam tecum 
loquar, non ut odio permotus efse videar, quo debeo ; sect ut 
misericordia, quae tibi nulla debetur. Venisti pauio ante in 
Seoatum ; quis te ex hac ' tanta frequentia, ex tot tuis amicis 
ac necelsariis salutavit?" Si hoc post hqminum memoriam con- 
tigit nemini, voeis expectas contumeliam, cum sis gravifsimo 
judicio taciturnitatis oppreisus? Quid, quod adventu tuo ista 
subsellia vacua facta sunt? quid, quod omnes consuiares, qui 
tibi' persaepc ad caedem constituti fuerunt, simulatque aisedisti, 
■^partem istam subselliorum nudam, atque inanem reliqueruDt? 
Quo tandem ammo hoc tibi ferendum putas I Servi, mehercie 
mei, si me isto pacto metuerent, ut te metuunt omnes cives tui, 
domum meam relinq'uendam putarem: tu tibi urbem non ar- 
bitraris i 5 et, si me meis civibus injuria suspectum tain graviter 
atque infensum viderem, carere me aspectu civium, quam in- 

f'estis oculis omnium conspici mallem : tu cum conscientia sce- 
erum tudrum agnoscas odium omnium justum, et jam tibi diu 
debitum, dubitas, quorum mentes, sensusque vulncras, eorum 
aspectum praxsentiamque vitare ? Si te parentes timerent, at- 
que odifsent tui, neque eos uila ratione placare pofses, ut opi- 
nor, ab eorum oculis aliquo concederes : nunc te patria, quae 
communis est omnium nostrum parens, odit ac metuit ; et 
jamdiu de tc nihil judicat, nisi de pancidio suo, cogitare : hu- 
jus tu heque auctoritatem verebere, neque judicium sequere, 
Deque vim pertimesces ? qua; tecum, Catilina, sic agit, et cjuo- 
dammodo tacita loquitur: Nullum jam tot aimos tacinus exs' 
nisi per te : nullum rlagitium sine te : tibi urn multorum civium 
•neces, tibi vixatio direptioque sociorum impunita t'uit, ac li- 
bera: ( ,3 ) tu non solum ad negligendas leges et quuestiones, ve- 



(13) Tu non solum ad negligendas leges— ver mn etiam ad evertendas.l He 
pay be saici to neglect the laws, Who acts directly contrary to them, and 
js not awed by the punishment wherewith they threaten offenders. Again, 
we n;ay consider him as an overthrower of the laws, who, though mani- 
festly convicted of breaking them, yet by his credit and addrefs, funis 
means to snatch himself from the hands of justice. Catiiine was twice 
accused,- and the proofs were very .flagrant ; yet both times he had the 
■'irefz to escape punishment. 



127 

office ? How many thrusts of thine, so well aimed that they 
seemed unavoidable, have I parried by an artful evasion, and, as 
they term it, a gentle defection of body? You attempt, you 
contrive, you set pn foot noihiag, of which I nave not timely 
Information : yet you cease not to concert, and enterprise. 
How often has that dagger" been wrested out of thy hands ? 
How often, by some accident, has it dropped before the mo- 
ment of execution ? Yet you cannot resolve to lay it aside. 
How, or with what rites you have consecrated it, is hard to say, 
that you think yourself thus obliged to lodge it in the bosom of 
a consul. 

Sect. VIL What are we to think of your present situation 
and conduct? For I will now addreis 3~ou, not with the detest- 
ation your actions deserve, but -with a compafsion to which 
you have no just claim. You came some time ago into the 
senate. Did a single person of tins numerous aisemhly, not 
excepting your most intimate relations and friends, deign to 
salute you ? If there be no instance of this kind in the memory 
of man, do you expect that I should embitter with reproaches, 
a doom confirmed by the silent detestation of all present ? 
Were not the benches where you sit forsaken, as soon as you 
was observed to approach them? Did not all the consular 
senators, whose destruction yon have so often plotted, quit im- 
mediately the part of the house where you thought proper to 
place yourself^ How are } 7 ou able to bear all this treatment ? 
For my own part, were my slaves to discover such a dread of me, 
as your fellow-citizens exprefs of }~ou, I should think it neces- 
sary to abandon my own house: and do you hesitate about 
leaving the city ? Was I even wrongfully suspected, and thereby 
rendered obnoxious to my countrvmen ; I would sooner with- 
draw myself from public view, than be beheld with looks full 
of reproach and indignation. .And do you, Lwhose conscience . 
tells you that you are the object of an universal, a just, and a 
long-merited hatred, delay a moment to escape from the looks 
and presence of a people, whose eyes and senses can no longer 
endure you among them ? Should your parents dread and hate 
} r ou, and be obstinate to all your endeavours to appease them, 
you would- doubtlefs withdraw somewhere from their sight. 
But now your country, the common parent of us all, hates and 
dreads you, mid has long regarded you as a parricide, intent 
upon the design of destroying her. And will you neither re* 
spect her authority, submit to her advice, nor stand in awe of 
Jiqv power? TSus does she reason with yoa, Catiline; and thus 
does she, in some measure, addrefs you by her silence : Not an 
enormity has happened these many years, but has had thee for 
its author : not a crime has been perpetrated without thee : the 
> many • 



5 73 M. T. CICER0NI5 ORATIONES, 

rum etiam ad evertendas, perfringendasque valuisti. Superiora 
ilia, quamquam ferendanon fuerunt, tamen, ut potui, tuli: nunc 
vero me totam efse in metu propter te unum: quidquid incre- 
puent, Catjlinam timeri: nullum videri contra me consilium 
inire pofse, quod a tuo scelere abhorreat, non est ferendum. 
Quamobrem discede, atque llunc mihi timOrem eripe : si est 
yerus, ne opprimar ; sin ralsus, ut tandem aliquando tiinere de- 
si nam. 

VIII. Haec si tecum, ut dixi, patria loquatur, nonne impetrare 
debeat, etiamsi vim adhibere non pofsit? Quid, quod tu te ipse 
in custodiam dedisti ? quid, quod vitandas suspicionis causa, apucj 
M. Lepidum te habitare Telle dixisti? a quo non receptus, etiam 
ad me venire ausus es ; atque ut domi mea3 te afservarem ro- 
gasti. Cum a, me quoque id responsum tulifses, me nullo modo 
pofe iisdem parietibus tutd efse tecum, qui magno in periculo 
efse'm, quod iifdem mcenibus contineremur; ad Q. Metellum 
Fraetorem venisti : a quo repudiatus, ad sodalem tuum, yinim 
optimum, M. Marcellum, demigrasti •" quern tu videlicet et ad 
custodiendum te diligentifsimum, et ad suspicandum sagacifVi- 
riium, et ad vindicandum fortifsimum fore putasti. Sed qua.ru 
longe videtur a carcere atque a vi^Culis abefse debere, qui seip- 
sum jam dignum custodia judicaveritrf'Quae cum ita sint, Cati- 
lina ; dubitas, si hie emori aequo artimo non potes, abire in ali- 
quas terras, et vitam istam muitis suppliciis justis debitisque erep- 
tarn, fugae solitudinique mandare ? Refer, inquis, ad Senatum (id 
enim postulas), et, si hie ordo sibi placere decreverit, te ire 
in exilium, obtemperaturum te efse dicis. Non referam id 
quod C 4 ) abhorret a, meis moribus: et tamen faciam, ut intel- 
hgas quid hi de te sentiant. Egredere ex iirbe, Catilina, li- 
bera rempub. metu : in exsilium, si banc vocem exspectas, pro- 
ficiscere. Quid est, Catilina ? ecquid attendis ? ecquid ani- 
madvertis horum Pentium ? patiuntur : tacent: quid expectas 
auctoritateiri loquentium, quorum voluntatem taatorum per- 
spicis? At si hoc idem huic adolescenti optimo, P. Sextio, si 
iortifsimo viro M. Marcello dixifsem, jam mihi consulj hoc 
ipso in templo, jure optimo, Senatus vim et manus intulifset ; 
de te autem, Catilina, cum quiescunt, probant: cum patiuntur, 
decemunt : cum tacent, clamant ; neque hi solum, quorum 



(14) Jbhorret a meis fnorihu$. r \ As Cicero was by his nature extremelv 
averse tp every thing that looked like severity and crueity, he industri- 
ously avoided bringing the matter before the^senate, by whom he foresaw 
Catiline could not fail of being condemned. For though no sentence could 
exceed the measure of his crimes, yet our orator chose rather to drive him. 
from the city, as a course that would draw lefs odium upon himself, and 
yet prove equally fatal to the conspiracy. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 1 29 

of our allies, has through thee alone escaped punishment, and 
been exercised with unrestrained violence: thou hast found 
means not only to trample upon law and justice, but even to 
subvert and destroy them. Though this past behaviour of thine 
was beyond all patience, yet have I borne with it as' I could. 
But now, to be in continual apprehension from thee alone ; on 
every alarm to tremble at the name of Catiline^ to see no de- 
signs formed against me that speak not thee for their author , is 
altogether insupportable. Be gone then, and rid me of my 
present terror ; that, if just, I may avoid ruin ; if groundlefs, 

I may at length cease to fear. 

i .' • • ■ 

Sect^. VIIif~Should your country, as I said, addrefs you in 
these terms, ought she not to find obedience, even supposing 
her unable to compel you to such a step ? But did you not even 
offer to become a prisoner? Did you not say, that to avoid sus- 
picion, you would submit to be confined in the house of M. Le~ 
pidus ? When he declined receiving you, you had the afsurance 
to come to me, and request you might be secured at my house. 
When I likewise told you, that I could never think myself safe 
in the same house, when I judged it even dangerous to b,e h% the 
same city with you, you applied to Q. Metellus the praetor. ( Be- 
ing repulsed here too, you went to the excellent M. Marcellus, 
your companion ; who, no doubt, you imagined would be very- 
watchful ill confining you, very quick in discerning your secret 
practices, and very resolute in bringing you to justice. \ How 
justly may we pronounce him worthy of irons,and a jail, whose 
own conscience condemns him to restraint?! If it be so then, 
Catiline, and you cannot submit to the thougrit of dying here, 
do you hesitate to retire to some other country, and commit to 
flight and solitude a life so often and so justly forfeited to thy 
country ? But, say you, put the question to the senate, (for so 
you affect to talk,) and if it be their pleafure that I go into 
banishment, I am ready to obey. I will put no such question ; 
it is contrary to my temper : yet will I give you an oppor- 
tunity of knowing- the sentiments of the senate with regard to 
you. Leave the city, Catiline; deliver the republic from its 
fears; go, if you wait only- for that word, into banishment. 
Observe now, Catiline ; mark the silence and composure of 
the afsembly. Does a single senator remonstrate, or so much 
as offer to speak ? Is it needful they should confirm by their 
voice, what they so exprefsly declare by their silence ? But had 
I addrefsed myself in this manner to that excellent youth P. Sex- 
tius, or to the brave M. Marcellus; the senate would ere now 
haverisen up against me, and laid violent hands upon,their consul, 
in this very temple ; and justly too. But with regard to you, Ca- 
tiline, their silence declares their approbation, their acquiescence 
amounts to a decree, and by saying nothing they proclaim their 



nO S*„ T. CICERONK ORATIONES 

*ibi auctoritas videlicit cara, vita vilifsima ; sed etiam illi equitqs 
Horn, honestifsimi, atque optimi viri, caeterique fortifsimi cives, 
qui circumstant striatum : quorum tu et frequentiam videre, et 
stadia perspicere et voces paulo ante exaudire potuisti ; quorum 
ego vix abs te jamdiu manus ac tela contineo ; eosdem facile ad- 
ducam, ut te haee, quae jampridem vastare studes, relinquentem 
usque ad portas prosequantur* 

IX. Quamquam quid loqu or ? te ut ulla res frangat? tu ut 
unquam te corrigas ? tu ut ullam fugam meditere ? tu ulium 
ut exiiium cogites? Utina'm tibi istam nientem dii immortules 
darent ? tametsi video, si mea voce perterritus ire in exiiium, 
animum induxeris, quanta tempestas invidiae nobis, si minus in 
pnesens tempus, recenti memoria scelerum tuorum, at in pos- 
teritatem impendeat. Sed est mihi tanti, dummodo ista privata 
sit calamitas, et a reipub. periculfe sejungatur. Sed tu ut vitiis 
tuis eommoveare, ut legum poenas pertimescas, ut tempoiibus 
reipub. cedas, non est postulandum ; neque enim, Catilina, is 
es, ut te aut pudor a turpitudine, aut metus a periculo, aut ra- 
tio a. furore revoearit. * Quamobrem, ut saepe jam dixi, proficis- 
cere : ae si mihi inimico, ut praedicas, tuo conflare vis invidiam, 
recta perge in ex ilium: vix feram sermones hominum, si id 
feceris: vix molem istius invidiam, si in exiiium ieris jufsu con- 
sulis, sustinebo; sin autem servire meae laudi et glorias mavis, 
egredere cum importuini sceleratorum manu: confer te ad 
Manliiim, concita perditos cives ; secerue te a, bonis : infer 
patriae bellum ; exsulta impio latrocinio ; ut a, me non ejectus 
ad alienos, sed invitatus ad tuos itse videaris. Quamquam quid 
ego te invitem, a quo jam sciam else praemifsos, qui tibi ad 
Forum Aurelium pricstolarentur armati ? cum sciam pactam et 
constitutam efse cum Manlio diem? a quo etiam ( 5 ) aquilam 
iilam argenteam quam tibi ac tuis omnibus perniciosam efse 
confido et funestam futuram, cui domi tuae sacrarium scelerum. 
tuorum con stitu turn fuit, sciam efse praemiisam ? Tu ut ilia 
diotius carere pofsis, quam venerari ad caedem proficiscens 
solebas ? a cujus altaribus saepe istam dextram impiam ad necem 
civium transtulisti ? 



(15) Aquilam illam argenteam.~\ It is well known that the eagle was the 
proper standard of the, Roman armies. Each legion had one : and as there 
'w ere ten cohorts in every legion, the iirst cohort always claimed the ho- 
nour of guarding the standard. -We learn from history, that the Roman 
standards, and especially the eagle, were held in the greatest veneration by 
the soldiers ; who even worshipped them as deities, and swore b\ them. 
The eagle of which Cicero here speaks, and which Catiline kept so religi- 
ously, is said to have been the same which Maims had in the war with the 
Gimbri. » 



cicero's orations. 131 

consent. Nor is this true of the senators alone, whose authority 
you affect to prize, while you make no account of their lives ; 
but of these brave and worthy Roman knights, and other illus- 
trious citizens, who guard the avenues to the senate ; whose 
numbers you might have seen, whose sentiments you might 
have known, whose voices a little while ago you might have 
heard ; and whose swords and hands I have tor some time with 
difficulty restrained from your person. Yet all these will I easily 
.engage to attend you to the very gates, if you but consent to 
leave this city, which you have so long devoted to detruction. 

Sect. IX. But why do I talk ? as if your resolution was to 
be shaken ? or there was any room to hope you would reform ? 
/Can we expect you will ever think of flight ? or entertain the 
design of going into banishment ? May the immortal gods in-, 
spire you with that resolution ! Though I clearly perceive, 
should my threats frighten you into exile, what a storm of envy 
will light upon my own head:, if not at present, whilst the 
memory of thy crimes is fresh, yet surely in future times. But 
J little regard that thought, provided the calamity falls on my- 
self alone, and is not attended with any danger to my country. 
But to feel the stings of remorse, to dread the rigour of the 
laws, to yield to the exigencies of the state, are things not to 
be expected from thee. /Thou, O Catiline, art none of those, 
whose shame reclaims from dishonourable pursuits, fear from. 
danger, or reason from madnefs. Be gone, then, as I have 
already often said ; and if you would swell the measure of po- 
pular odium against me, for being, as you give out, your ene- 
my, depart directly into banishment, i By this step you will 
bring upon me an insupportable load of censure ; nor shall I 
be able to sustain the weight of the public indignation, shouldst 
thou, by order of the consul, retire into exile. But if you 
mean to advance my reputatj origan d glory, march off with ytmt 
abandoned crew of ruffians ^repair to Manlius; rouze v every 
desperate citizen to rebel ; separate yourself from the worthy ; 
declare war against your country ; triumph in your impious 
depredations ; that it may appear you was not forced by me 
into a foreign treason, but voluntarily joined your afsociates. 
Bat why should I urge you to this step, when I know you 
have already sent forward a body of armed men, to wait you 
at the Forum Aurelium ? when I know you have concerted and 
fixed a day with Manlius ? when I know you have sent off the 
silver eagle, that domestic shrine of your impieties, which I 
doubt not Will bring ruin upon you and your accomplices ? can 
you absent yourself longer from an idol to which you had re- 
course in every bloody attempt? and from whose altars that 
impious right hand was frequently transferred to the murder of 
your countrymen ■? 
3 



132 M. T.CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

X. Ibis tandem aliquando, quo te jampridem tua ista cupidi- 
tas effrenata ac furiosa rapiebat ; neque enim tibi haec res affert 
dolorem, sed quandam incredibilem voluptatem : ad hanc te 
ameutiam natura peperit, voluntas exercuit, fortuna servavit; 
nunquam tu non modd otium, sedne bellum quidem, nisi nefa- 
vium concupisti ; nactus es ex. perditis, atque ab omnt non 
modo fortuna, verum etiam spe derelict! s, conflatam improborum 
manum ; hie tu qua lsetitia perfruere ? quibus gaudiis exsulta- 
bis ? quanta in yoluptate bacchabere, cum in tanto numero 
tuorum neque audies vh'um bonum quemquam, neque videbis ? 
Ad hujus vitae studium meditati illi sunt, qui feruntur, Jabores 
pm : jacere humi non modo ad bbsidendum stuprum, verum- 
etiam ad facinus obeundum : vigilare non solum ad insidiandum 
somno maritorum, verum etiam bonis occisorum. Habes ubi 
osteiites illam praeclaram tuam patientiam famis, frigoris, inopi^e 
rerum omnium ; quibus te brevi tempore confectum else fenties. 
Tantum profeci turn, cum te a consulatu repuli, ut exsul po- 
tius tentare, quam consul vexare rempub. poises : atque ut id, 
quod efset a te scelerate susceptum, latrocinium potius quam 
bellum nominaretur. 

XL Nunc ut a me, P. C. quandam prope>justam patriae 
quaerimoniam detester ac deprecer ; percipite, quaeso, diligent er 
quae dicam, et ea penitus animis vestris mentibusque mandate. 
Etenim si mecum patria, quae mihi vita mea multo est carior, 
si cuncta Italia, si ornnis respub. loquatur: M. Tulli, quid 
agis ? tu-ne eum, quern efse hostem comperisti, quern ducem 
belli futurum vides, quern exspeetari imperatorem in castris 
hostium sentis, auctorem sceleris, principem conjurationis, 
evocatorem servorum et civium perditorum, exire patieris, ut 
abs te non emiisus ex urbe, sed immifsus in urbem efse videa- 
atur? non-ne hunc in vincula duci, non ad mortem rapi, non 
summo supplicio mactari imperabis ? Quid tandem impedit te ? 
inos-ne major urn ? at persaepe etiam privati in hac repub. per- 
niciosos cives morte multarunt ; an leges, quae de civium Roman- 
prum supplicio rogatae sunt? at nunquam in hac urbe ii, qui a, 
repub. defecerunt, civium jura tenuerunt j an invidiam posterita- 



CiCero's oration's. 133 

Sect X. Thus will you at length repair, whither your fran- 
tic and unbridled rage has long been hurrying you. Nor does , 
this ifsue of thy plots give thee pain ; but, on the contrary, 
fills thee with inexprefsible delight. Nature has formed you, 
inclination trained you, and fate reserved you for this despe- 
rate enterprize. You never took delight either in peace or 
war, unlel's when they were flagitious and destructive. \.?You 
have got together a band of rulfians and profligates, not*only 
utterly abandoned of fortune, but even without hope, With 
what pleasure will you enjoy yourself? how will you exult? 
how will you triumph? when among so great a number of 
your associates, yOu shall neither hear nor see an honest man ? 
-To attain the enjoyment of such a life, have you exercised 
yourself in all those toils which are emphatically styled yours : 
your tying on the ground, not only in pursuit of lewd amours, 
but of bold and hardy enterprizes: your treacherous watchful- 
nefs, not only to take advantage of the husband's slumber, but 
to spoil the murdered citizen. Here may you exert all that 
boasted patience of hunger,, cold, and want, by which how- 
ever you will shortly find yourself undone ,/ So much have I 
gained by excluding you from the consulship, that you can 
only attack your country as an exile, not opprefs her as a con- 
sul ; and your impious treasons will be deemed the efforts, not 
of an enemy, but of a robber. 

Sect. XI. And now, conscript fathers, that I may obviate 
and remove a complaint, which my country might with some 
appearance of justice urge against me ; attend diligently to 
what I am about to say, and treasure it up in your minds and 
hearts. For should my country, which is to me much dearer 
than life ; should all Italy, should the whole state thus accost 
me, Wha{; are you about, Marcus Tullus ? Will you suffer a 
man to escape out of Rome, whom you have discovered to be a 
public enemy ? whom you see ready to enter upon a war against 
the state ? whose arrival the conspirators wait with impatience, 
that they they may put themselves under his conduct ? the 
prime author of the treason; the contriver and manager of the 
revolt ; the man who enlists all the slaves and ruined citizens 
he can find; will you suffer him,, I say, to escape; and appear 
as one rather sent against the city, than driven from it ?\ will 
you not order him to be put in irons, to be dragged to execu- 
tion, and to atone for his guilt by the most rigorous punish^- 
ment ? What restrains you on this occasion ? is it the custom 
of our ancestors? But it is well known in this commonwealth, 
that even persons in a private station have often put pestilent 
citizens to death. , Do the laws relating to the punishment of 
Roman citizens hold you in awe ? Certainly traitors against 
their country can have no claim to the privileges of citizens. 



134 M. T. CICERQNIS ORATION£S. 

tis timas ? prseclaram vero populo Rom. refers gfafciarri, qui te 
hominem per te cognitum, milia<commendatione majorum, tam 
mature ad summum imperium per omnes honorum gradus ex- 
tulit, si propter invidiam, aut alicujus peri'culi metum, salutemr 
civium tuotum negligis. Sed si quis est invidiam metus, num. 
est vehementius severitatis ac fortitudinis invidia, quam inertia, 
ac nequitise pertimeseenda ? an cum bello vestabitur Italia^ 
vexabuntur urbes, tecta ardebunt ; turn te non existimas invi- 
diam incendio conrlaoraturum ? 

* 

XII. His ergo sanctifsimis reipub. vocibus, et eorum homi- 
num, qui idem sentiunt, mcntibus pauca respondebo. ( ,6 ) Ego? 
si hoc optimum factu judicarem, P. C. Catiiinam roorfce multaii, 
unius usuram horse gladiatori isti ad vivendum non dedifsem; 
etenim si surami viri, et clarifsimi cives, Saturnini, et Grac- 
chorum, et Fiacci, et superiornm complurium sanguine non 
mod 5 se non contaminarunt,sed etiam bonestarunt; certe veren- 
dum mihi non erat, ne quid, hoc parricida civium interfecto, 
invidiam mihi in posteritatcm redundaret. Quod si ea mihi 
maxime impenderet, tamen hoc animo semper fui, ut invidiam 
virtute partam, gloriam, non invidiam putarem. ( i; ) Qnamquam 
nonnulli sunt in hoc ordine, qui aut ea qua? imminent, non vi- 
deant; aut ea qua? vide nt, difsimulent : qui spem Catilinse mol- 
libus sententiis aluerunt, conjurationemque nascentem non cre- 
dendo corroboraverunt : quorum auctoritatem secuti multi, non 
solum improbi, verum etiam imperiti, si in hunc animadvertis- 
sem, crudeiiter et regie factum else dicerent. Nunc intelligo, 
si iste, quo intendit, in Manliana castrapervenerit, neminem tain 
stultum fore, qui non videat conjurationem efse lactam : neminem 
tam improbum, qui non fateatur. Hoc autem uno interlecro, 
intelligo hanc reip. pestem paulifper reprimi, non perpetuum 
comprimi pofse. Quod si se ejecerit, secumque suos eduxerit, 
et eodem caeteros undique collectos naufragos aggregaverit ; 
exstinguetur, atque delebitur, non modo ha?c tam adulta reipubl. 
pestis, verum etiam stirps, ac semen malorum omnium. 



(16) Ego, si hoc optimum.] Cicero here explains his conduct, ana the 
reasons on which it was founded. He had two things in his choice, eithcr 
%o put Catiline to death, or oblige him to leave the city. The first of 
these, had it been for the interest of the commonwealth, he declares him- 
self ready to put in execution, -whatever consequences might follow: for, 
says he, I have no reason to apprehend^ that so beneficial and salutary a 
measure would draw upon me any envy ; and even supposing the worst to 
happen, the glory of having preserved my country, would enable m< 
bear my misfortune with patience. But, adds he, there is n* need of coming 
to this extremity ; because 1 hold it the safer way to drive him from 
city. For, by putting him to death, 1 should only check the progrefs of 
the conspiracy tor a time; but in obliging him to leave the city, I shall 
soon have it in my power to destroy him and all his accomplice*. 

(17) Quamquiml nomiulU sunt in hoc ordin?.'] Caesar. Craux.s, and others 
of the first rank, were suspected of being concerned in Catiline's con 



CICERO ? S ORATIONS. * 135 

Are 5'ou afraid of the reproaches of posterity r" A noble proof, 
indeed, of your gratitude to the Roman people, that you, a 
new man, who, without any recommendation from your an- 
cestors, have been raised by them through all the degrees of 
honour to sovereign dignity, should, for the sake of any dan- 
ger to yourself, neglect the care of the public safety. But if 
censure be that whereof you are afraid, think which is to be 
most apprehended, the censure incurred for having acted with 
firmneis and courage; or that for having acted with sloth and 
pusillanimity ? When Italy shall be laid desolate with war, her 
cities plundered, her dwellings on lire; can yon then hope to 
escape the flames of public indignation ? 

Sect. XII. To this most sacred voice of my country, and to 
all those who blame me after the same manner, I shall make 
this short reply: That if I had thought it the most advifable to 
put Catiline to death, I would not have allowed that gladiator 
the use of one moment's life-/ For if, in former days, our great- 
est men, and most illustrious citizens, instead of sullying:, have 
done honour to their memories, by the destruction of Saturni^ 
nus, the Gracchi, Flaccus, and many others ; there is no ground- 
to fear, that by killing this parricide, any envy would lie upon 
me with posterity. Yet if the greatest was sure to befall me, it 
was alwavs my per suasion, that envy acquired by virtue, was 
really glory, not envy. But there are some of this very order, 
who do not either see the dangers which hang over us, or else 
difsemble what they see ; who, by the softnefs of their votes,, 
cherish Catiline's hopes, and add strength to the conspiracy by 
not believing it; whose authority influences many, not only of 
the wicked, but the weak ; who, if I had punished this man as 
he deserved, would not have failed x to charge me with acting- 
cruelly and tyrannically. Now I am persuaded,, that when he 
is once gone into Manlius's camp, whither he actually designs 
to go, none can be so silly as not to see that there is a plot; 
.none so wicked as not to acknowledge it: whereas, by taking: 
oif him alone, though this pestilence would be somewhat check- 
ed, it could not be suppressed ; but when he has thrown him- 
self into rebellion, and carried out his friends along with him, 
and drawn together the profligate and desperate from all parts 
of the empire, not only this ripened plague of the republic, 
but the very root and seed of all our evils, will be extirpated 
with him at once. 



find of wishing that it might succeed. These were cunning enough not to 
be present at the meeting of the body of the conspirators, lest they should 
be discovered ; but they served Catiline, by maintaining that the whole 
conspiracy was a chimera of the consul's brain, or at most a design to be 
revenged on- Cicero, for disappointing Catiline so often in his standing 
for the consulship. - - 



136 M. T. CICEROtflS ORATIONES. 

XIII. Etenim jamdiu, P. C. in his periculis conjurationis insi- 
dhsque versamur : sed nescio quo pacto omnium scelerum, ac 
veteris furoris et audacise maturitas in nostri consulatus tempus 
erupit. (iuod si ex tanto latrocinio iste unus tolletur, videbi- 
mur fortafse ad breve quoddam tempus cura et metu efse rele- 
vati : periculum autem residebit, et erit inclusum penitus in^enis, 
atque in visceribus reipublicse. Ut saepe homines aegri| morbo 
gravi, cum aestu febrique -jactantur, si aquam gelid am biberint, 
primo relevari videntur; deinde multo gravius vehementiusque 
afflictantur : sic hie morbus qui est in republica, relevatus istius 
poena, vehementius, vjvis reiiquis ingravescet. Quare, P. C, 
secedant improbi, secernant se a bonis, unum in locum congre-- 
gentur, muro denique,- id quod saspe jam dixi, secernantur a 
nobis: desinant insidiari domi suae consuli, cireumstare tribunal 
praetoris urbani, obsidere cum gladiis curiam, malleolos et face* 
ad in'cendendam urbem comparare: sit denique inscriptutA.- in 
fronte uniuscujusque'eivis, quid de repub. sentiat. Pollifeor 
vobis hocv, P. C. tantam in nobis Cofs. fore diligentiam, tantam 
in yobis auctorkatem, tantam in equitibus Rom. virtutem, tan- 
tam in omnibus bonis consensionem, ut Catalinse profectione 
omnia patefacta, illustrate, opprefsa, vindicata efse videatis. ( ,8 ) 
Hisce omnibus, Catihna, cum summa rep. salute, et cum tua 
.peste ac pernicie, cumque eorum exitio,'qui se tecum omni sce- 
lere, parricidioque junxerunt, proficiscere ad impium bellum 
ac nefarium. Turn tu, Jupiter, qui iisdem, quibus haec urbs, 
auspiciis a Romulo es constitutus, quem Statorem bujus urbis, 
atque imperii vere nominamus, hunc, et hujus socios a tuis aris, 
caeterisque templis, a tectis urbis ac moenibus, a vita fortunif- 
que civium omnium arcebis: et omnes inimicos bonorum, ho>- 
tes, patriae, latrones Italise, scelerum fcedere inter se ac nefaria 
societate conjunctos, aetefhis suppliciis, vivos mortuosque 
mactabis. 



(18) Hisce ominibus, Catilina.'] The heathens superstitious!}- observed 
whatever was said on their undertaking a journey, or any enterprize. 
Some of the greatest men have laid aside an undertaking, or been encou- 
raged in the pursuit of it, by a word dropt by chance. All the Roman 
historians, particularly Livy, are full of this ridiculous conceit. This so- 
lemn imprecation, therefore, pronounced by the consul, in the temple of 
Jvpiter Stator, was like the highest excommunication, and would be 
construed a bad omen to Catiline by all -those of his audience, who had 
any regard for the religion of their country. 



-> 137 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

Sect. XIII. It is now a long time, conscript fathers, that we 
have trode amidst the dangers and machinations of this con- 
spiracy ; but I know not how it comes to pafs, the. full matu- 
rity of all those crimes, and of this long ripening rage and in- 
solence, has now broke out during the period of my consul- 
ship. Should he alone be removed from this powerful band of 
traitdrs, it may abate, perhaps, our fears and anxieties for a 
while ; but the danger will still remain, and continue lurking 
in the veins and vitals of the republic. For as men, opprefsed 
with a severe fit of illnefs, and labouring under the raging heat 
of a fever, are often at first seemingly relieved by a draught of 
cold water ; but afterwards find the disease return upon them 
with redoubled fury : in like manner, this distemper which has 
seized the commonwealth, eased a little by the punishment of 
this traitor, will from his surviving afsociates soon afsume new 
force. Wherefore, conscript fathers, let the wicked retire, 
let them separate themselves from the honest, let them rendez- 
vous in one place. In fine, as I hav^ often said, Jet a wall be 
between them and us : let them cease tb lay snares for the con- 
sul in his own house, to beset the tribunal of the city praetor, ' 
to invest the senate-house with armed ruffians, and to prepare 
fire-balls and torches for burning the city : in short, let every 
man's sentiments with regard to the public be inscribed on his 
forehead. This I engage for and promise, conscript fathers, 
that by the diligence of the consuls, the weight of your autho- 
rity, the courage and firmnefs of the Roman knights, and the 
unanimity of all the honest, Catiline being driven from the city, 
you shall behold all his treasons detected, exposed, crushed^ 
and punished. >Vith thefe omens, Catiline, of all prosperity to 
the republic, but of destruction %o thyself, and all those who 
have joined themselves with thee in all kinds of parricide, go 
thy way then to this impious and abominable war : whilst thou, 
Jupiter, whose religion was established with the foundation of 
this city, whom we truly call Stator, the stay and prop of this 
empire, wilt drive this man and his accomplices from thy altars 
and temples, from the houses and walls of the city, from the 
lives and fortunes of us all ; and wilt destroy with eternal pu- 
nishments, both living and dead, all the haters of good men, 
the enemies of their country, the plunderers of Italy, now confe- 
derated in this detestable league and partnership of villainy 



K 



ORATIO V. 



a. IN L. CATILINAM* 



I : . np'ANDEM aliquando, Quirites, L. Catilinam fiirentem' 
JL auclacia, scelus anhelantem, pestem patriae nefarie moli- 
.enteni, vobis atque huic urbi ferrum flamraamque minitantem, 
ex urbe (') vel ejecimus, vel emisimus, vel ipsum egredientem 
verbis prosecuti sumus.. Abiity excefsit, evasit, erupit ; nulla 
jam pernicies a monstro illo, atque prodigio mtenibus ipsis intra 
nicenia comparabitur. Atque nunc tmidem unum hujus belli 
do'mesticiducem sine controversia vicimus; non jam inter Iatera 
nostra sica ilia versabitur : non in campo, non in f'oro, non in curia, 
lion denique intra domesticos parietes pertimescemus ; loco ille 
inotus est, eum est ex urbe depulsus ; palam jam cum hoste, 

*' Catiline, astonished by the thunder of the last speech, had little to say 
for himself in answer to it; yet, with downcast looks, and suppliant voice, 
he begged of the fathers, not to believe too hastily what was said against 
hirn by an enemy ; that his birth and past life offered every thing to him 
that was hopeful; and it was not to be imagined that a- man of patrician 
family, whose ancestors, as well as himself, had given many proofs of their 
affection to the Roman people, should want to overturn the government; 
while Cicero, a stranger, and late inhabitant of Rome, was so zealous to 
preserve it. But as he was going on to give foul language, the senate inter- 
rupted him by a general outcry^ calling him traitor and parricide: upon 
which, being furious and desperate, he declared again aloud what he had 
said before to Cato, that since he was circumvented and driven headlong 
by his enemies, he would quench the flame which was raised about him 
by the common ruin ; and so rushed out of the afsembly. As soon as he 
was come to his house, and began to reflect on what had pafsed, perceiv- 
ing it in vain to difsemble any longer, he resolved to enter into action im- 
mediately, before the troops of the republic were increased, or any new 
levies made; so that after a short conference with Lentulus, Cethegus, 
and the rest, about what had been concerted in the last meeting, havitij 
giving fresh orders and afsurances of his fpeedy return at th' 1 head of a 
strong army, he left Rome that very night with a small'retinue. to makt 
'the best of his way towards Etruria. He no sooner disappeared, than his 
friends gave out that he was gone into a voluntary exile at Marseilles ; 
which was industriously spread through the city the next morning, to 
raise an odium upon Cicero for driving an innocent man into banishment, 
without any previous trial or proof of hjs guilt. But Cicero was too well 
informed of his motions to entertain any doubt about his going to Manlius's 
camp, and into actual rebellion. He knew that he had sent thither al- 
ready a great quantity of arms,, and all the ensigns of military command, 



ORATION V. 



2. AGAINST CATILINE. 



Sect. I. A T length, Romans, have we driven, discarded, and 
Xjl pursued with the keenest reproaches to the veiy 
gates of Rome, L. Catiline, intoxicated with fury, breathing 
mischief, impiously plotting the destruction of his 'country, 
and threatening to lay waste this city with fire and sworch 
He is gone, he is fled, he has escaped, he has broke away. 
No longer shall that monster, that prodigy^ of mischief, plot 
the ruin of this city within her very walls. We have gained 
a clear conquest over this thief and ringleader of domestic 
broils. His threatening dagger is ho longer pointed at our 
breasts, nor shall we now any more tremble, in the field of Mars, 
the forum, the senate-house, or within our domestic wails. 



-with that silver eagle which he used to keep with great superstition in his 
house, for its having belonged to C. Marius, in his expedition against 
the Cimbri. But, lest the story should make an ill imprefsion on the city, 
he called the people together into the forum, to give them an account of 
what pafsed in the senate the day before, and of Catiline's leaving Rome 
upon it. And this makes the subject of the oration now before ust 
, (1) Vel ejecimus, vel emisimus, vel ipsum egredientem, &c] Ejicere is 
when a man is forced from a place against his will. Emittere implies his 
being dispatched upon some affair with his own consent. In both cases, 
however, the will of another is concerned. Egredi is an act entirely our 
own, to which neither force nor perfuasion, but a voluntary impulse 
prompts us. All these exprefsions may be in some measure applied to Ca- 
tiline, us we see Cicero in fact does in this paragraph. He was forced 
from Rome against his will, because his intention originally Was, not to 
leave the city till Cicero was taken off. He was sent away with his own 
consent^ because, seeing all his designs discovered, and his most secret 
naachinations brought to light, he plainly perceived that he could not con- 
tinue any longer in Rome! with safety.. In fine, he quitted the place of h* 
own choice, because there was nothing he was more earnestly set upon 
than to repair to Manlius's camp. The four words Cicero uses immedi- 
ately after, abiii, excefsit, evasit, erupit, are not to be considered as a string 
of synonimus terms, but form a kind of climax, in which the exprekion 
gradually grows in force. Abiit, he is gone, implies only a bare removal. 
Excefsit, he has quitted us, as if indeed by some urgent reasons. Evasit, he 
has escaped, as if from a place where he could no longer remain in safety. 
Erupit, he hath broke from us, as if he had dreaded being detained from 
Manlius's camp, wfritjier. he was very desirous to go, 

K2 



140 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONESV 

nullo impsdiente, belliim justurn geremus. Sine dubi 
dimus bominem, magnificeque vicimus, cum ilium ex 
insidiis in. apertum iatrocinium conjecimus. Quod ^ 
cruentum mucronem, ut voluit, extulit, quod vivis nob 
sus est, quod ei ferrum de mambus extorsimns, quod ii 
cives, quod stantem ui'bem reliqiiit, quanto tandem ilium mcerore 
afflictum else et profligatum putatis? Jacet ille nunc, prostra- 
tusque est, Quirites, et se pereulsum, atque abjectum efse sen- 
tit; et retorquet oculos profecto saepe ad hancurbem, quam ex 
suis faucibus ereptam else luges : quae quidem lartari milii vide- 
tur, quod tantam pestem cvomuerit, forasque projecerit. 

II. At si quis est talis, quales efse omnes oportebat, qui hoe 
in ipso, in quo exultat et triumphat oratio mea, me vehementer 
accuset, (*) quod tarn eapitalem bostem non comprehenderim 
potius, quam emiscrnn : non est ista mea ciHpa, Quirites, sed 
temporum. Interemptum efe L. Catilinam, et gravifsimo sup- 
plicio aifectum jampridem oportebat: idque a me et mos ma- 
jorum, et hujus imperii severitas, etrespub. postulabat. (3) Sed 
quam multos fuifse putatis, qui, quae ego deferrem, non ere- 
derent? quam multos, qui propter stultitiam non putarent? 
quam multos, qui etiam defenderent? quam multos, qui prop- 
ter improbitatem faverent ? Ac si, sublato illo, depelli a vobis 
omne periculum judicarem, jampridem ego L. Catilinam non 
modo invidiam mere, verum etiam vita? periculo siistuliisem ; sed 
cum viderem,. ne vobis quidem omnibus re etiam turn probata,, 
si ilium, ut erat meritus, morte multafsem, fore ut ejus socios 
invidia opprefsus persequi non poisem ; rem buc deduxi, ut turn 
palam pugnare poisetis, emu bostem aperte videretis. Qr.cm 

(2) Quod tarn eapitalem hostem non comprehenderim potius, quam end- 
serim.~] It must doubtlefs appear very strange to some, that Cicero, when 
he had certain information of Catiline's treason, instead of seizing him in 
the city, not only suffered, but urged his escape, and forced him as it were 
to begin the war. But, as he intimates here, and in many other parts of 
his speeches, there was good reason for what he did. He had many ene- 
mies among the nobility, and Catiline many secret friends; and though he 
was perfectly informed of the whole progrefs and extent of the plot, yet 
the proofs being not ready to be laid before the public, Catiline's difsimu- 
lation still prevailed, and persuaded great numbers of his innocence ; so 
t4iat if he had imprisoned and punished him at this time, as he deserved,, 
the whole faction were prepared -to raise a general clamour against him, 
by representing his administration as a tyranny, and the plot as a forgery 
contrived to support it : whereas by driving Catiline into rebellion, he 
made all men see the reality of their danger; while, from an exact ac- 
count of his troops, he knew them to be so unequal to those of the repub- 
lic, that there was no doubt of his being destroyed, if he could be pushed 
to the necefsity of declaring himself before his other projects were ripe 
for execution". He knew also, that if Catiline was once driven out of 
the city, and separated from his accomplices, who were a lazy, drunken, 
thoughtlefs crew, they would ruin themselves by their own rashnef*. 
and be easily drawn into any trap which he should lay for them. The 
event showed that he judged right ; and by what happened afterwards,. 



VUEEPXfa ©**TrOKl. ^ I%1 

^ihuaittg trim froth the ottr, ire kuro forced hit most *&> 
*antageous post. We sliaH now, without oof u^sitioo, ceiny^cfe 
a just war against an open mrnrrr Mr hum i ilin (inillj i uUrnfl 
the mutt, and gained .a glorious victory, - by driving hmi InUi 
his secret piots into open rebellion. But how do you* tlaink . it 
he over whehncd and crushed wiUi respret, at carryuig away his 
dagger unbuthed i n Wood, at leaving, the city Wore he ttarf 
effected tny death, at seeing the wen poos prepared tor our da* 
st r uctian « rested out of his hands; in a word, that Heme is 
<*th" standing and her ettirens safe .lie is now u;uits over- 
thrown, Houaani, and perceives himself impotent-ami despised, 
often casting baek liis eyes upon this city, which he sees, with 
regret, resetted from hi* destf uetlvfcjaws <; ami which seems to 
«e to rejoice for lowing dtegttf getf -and rid herself of so pestilet* 
acitaicri. 

. 
Secx. fi. But if ,*kerfr>e\a*y tane, .who Jrf^^faffM* 
I am Uoastiug of,, a* you all noticed .justly uwy, .ihatJ.^M j*Jt 
ruttwq seiae Auau ; seaway so capital, an enemy ; that is not 
joy {auk, citizens but tlua tault of tne tunes- Catiline tnjgtyt 
Jong ago to have sud'ercd the last puuishojeut ; the e«*toau i|f 
our ancestor*, the discipline at the empire, and the repMhlic 
itself vequised it ; but how many would tbeee have been, who 
wouk} not have belie ve^.wljat i clmrged him with ? How many 
who,, through weakueis, would never ba*e imagined it ? how 
»auy who would even havo defended liini ? how nway who, 
through wickoduefs, wouW h«ve espoused his cause ? But had 
I judged that bis iWath would have put a heal period to all your 
dangers, I would lon^ ago have ordered him to execution, at 
tlienazard not only ot public censure, l>ut even of my life. Bat 
when I saw^ that by scutencing him to the death lie deserved, 
and before yeh were alt fully convinced of iiis guilt, I shdu|d 
have drawn upon myself such an> odium as would hare ren- 
dered ine unahle to prosecute his accomplices j 1 brought the 
matter to this pointy that you might then opeidy and rigorously 
atttck Catiline, when he was upj»arcntly become a public ene- 
my. \$uat kind of an enemy I judge him to be, ahd how 

both feo&fttihae ami to liiuiM.-h, it appeared, that, as far a» human caution 
could resell, he acted vita .-the utmost prudeuoe m regard a* well to ki* 
<,wu, as to the a*Wic safety. , h-.L ■ . .... 

(3) ted quant ttuttU* Juifse putatis^ £*cck> bene merrhoas three iuids of 
sneu, whose envy aod resentment he was like to incur, by proceeding to 
extremities aga*nst Catiline. i'ir%t, such as looked upon aim to be an 
enemv to CaiUi*»e> an account -of-tfce oxaueiUion that had artsear.tx- 
tweentfeem then* about the oamukbtp, waere our orator liad found him 
a very fiower ful rival* This induced then* to consider wast. Cicero al- 
leged a*ainwt *mh, as the gnuindtafs arf'-wrtions of a wan actuated by a 
mtmtifle of totrud. 'I toe second sort were iho*e who really believed there 
vas no conspiracy, aay were ready to defend Catiline, and weak en- i/el* 
to iroagtae Uim incapable of any soch designs. The third sort wefe the 
'wicked and ufoHtKat*,. wlu*ho|>ed to reap advantage from the overtfuow 
oi tae state, and therefore' wished we!l to the conspiracy. 

K 3 



ilfS M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

4)uidem ego hostem, Quirites, quam Tchementer foris efee ti- 
tnendum putem, licet hinc intelligatis, quod illud etkim mole«te 
.f*to> qudtl ex urbe parum comitatus exierit. Utinam Die 
,*Hnnersecum suas cppias eduxtfset. Tongilrom niihi editxit, 
-*raenx ainare in preetexta coepcrat ; Publictum et Munatium, 
• quorum aes alienum oontractum in popinft nullum reip. motum 
♦jiflerrepoterat. Reliquit quos Tiros ? rmanto aheno are r quam 
valentesr quam nobilo^ 

^IJ.iuque ego ilium exercitum, prx Gallicapis kgiapibus, et 

hoc delectu. (*) quern in agio Piceno et Gallico Q. McteJlu* ha- 

bint, et bi/J copiis qua* a nobis quotidie comparantur, magno- 

fiieje, ^contemno ; collecting ex senibus desperatis, ex agresti 

jj^uV^/ex rusticis mendRulis, ex decoctoribus, esiisqui va- 

uimonia deserere, quam ilium exercitum maluerunt ; quibup 

fo non modo si aciem exercitus nostri, verum etiam si edictum 
fctoris ostendero, concident. rtos, quos video volitarp 
foro, quos stare ad curiam, quos etiam in senatum venire ; 
-flui nitent unguentis, qui fulgent purpura, maflem sceum suos 
luilites eduxifset ; qui si iiic permanent, mementote non tarn 
exerGitom ilium efse nobis, quam hos, qui exercitum deserue- 
•rUnt, pertimesceodos. Atque hac etiam magis sunt timendi, 
. quod, quid cogitant, me scire, sentiunt, necjue tameti permo- 
frerfhtur. (*) Video, cui Apulia sit attributa, qui babcat Etrurram, 
qui agrum Picenum, qui Gallicum, qui sibi has urbanas insidjas 
fCiedls, atque incendiprum depoposcerit : Omnia superioris 
Boctis consilia ad me perlata else sentiunt; patefeci in sonar u 
hesterno die : Catilina ipse pertimuit, profngit ; hi quid ex- 
sfpsctant ? naj iUi vehementer errant, si illam meant pristinam 
Jenitatem per pet nam sperat futuram 

IV*. Quod exspectavi, jam sum afsecutus, ut voa omncs fac- 
tam else aperte conjurationcm contra rempubl. videretis: nisi 

" '■ ' ui ' • - ■ , „■ • »i . i a i ■ i _ 

(4) Qut'tl in agro Picertq^ ct Ga/Iico, Q_. MefJlus.lt \\ hen ti»o design of 
Jhe conspiracy came to be known, Q. Pompeius Rutus was sent to Capua, 
and Q. jMetellns Celea to Picenum, with commifsion to Kvy troops, and 
provide an army- sufficient to repel the clanger wherewith the stale was 
threatened. This sufficiently explains Cicero's meaning with respect to 
the levies in Picenum*. To understand what be farther says of the Gallic 
troops,' the reader must be informed, that the senate having decreed the 
provinces of Macedonia and Gaul to the two consuls of the present year, 
Macedonia fell to the lot of Cicero; which being one of the most lucrative 
provinces of the empire, our orator resigned it to his colleague Antony ; 
y, ho being overwhelmed with debt, and on that account suspected of fa- 
vouring the conspiracy, "was by this means drawn off from his old afsociates, 
and induced to act the part of a real friend to his country*. But neither 
did Cicero accept of Gaul, choosing rather to continue in Koine, and 
charge himself with the guardianship of the city. He therefore resigned his 
[province to'his friend Q. Met el his: and hence it is, that we find him so often 
boasting in his speeches, that he had rejected all the advantages of a pro- 
vincial command, in the view of rendering himself more serviceable to the 
tommonwealtii. 



1*3 

formidable in his attempts, you may learn from hence, citizens, 
that I am only sorry he went off with so few to attend him. I 
wish he had taken his whole forces along with him ; he has 
carried ofFTongillus indeed, the object of his criminal pafsion 
when a youth ; he has likewise carried off Pubjicius and Muna- 
tius, whose tavern debts would never have occasioned any 
commotions in the state. But how important are the men lie 
has left behind him? how opprefscd -with debt, how powerful, . 
how illustrious by their descent-? 

Sect. III. When therefore I think of our Gallic legions, and 
<the levies made by Metellus in Picenum and Lombardy,, toge- 
ther with those troops we are daily raising : I hold in utter con- 
tempt that army of his, composed of wretched old men, of de- 
bauchees from the country, pf rustic vagabonds, of such as have 
fled from their bail to take shelter in his camp | men ready to 
run away, not only at the sight of an army, but of the praetor's 
edict. I could wish he had likewise carried with him those 
whom I see fluttering in the forum, sauntering about the courts 
of justice., and even taking their places in the senate; men 
sleek with perfumes, and shining in purple. If these still re- 
main here, mark what I say, the deserters from the army are , 
more to be dreaded than the army itself; and the more so, be- 
cause they know me to be informed of all their designs, ,yet 
are not in the least moved by it. I behold the person to whom 
Apulia is allotted, to whom Etruria, to > whom the territory of 
Picenuni, ,to whom Cisalpine Gaul. I see the man who de- 
manded the task of setting fire to the city, and filling it with 
slaughter. They know that I am acquainted with all the -se- 
crets of their last nocturnal meeting : I laid them open yesterday 
in the senate: Catiline himself was disheartened and fled; what 
then can these others mean ? They are much mistaken, if they 
imagine I shall always use the same lenity, j JU- 

Sect. IV. I have at last gained what I have hitherto been 
waiting for, to make you all sensible that a conspiracy is openly 
formed against the state ; unlefs there be any one who imagines 
that such as resemble Catiline may yet refuse to enter into his 
designs. There is'now therefore no more room for clemency^ the 
case itself requires severity. Yet I will still grant them one thing ; 

(5) Video, cui Apulia sit attributa,~\ Sallust tells us., that Catiline., come 
time before, had sent Manlius to Fcesulae, and the adjoining parts of Tus- 
cany ; Septimius Gamers to Ancona, and C. Julius into Apulia, to make 
levies. But Cicero seems here to mean some persons of greater note, yet 
in Rome., who were to command in chief in those countries, whose names 
are not left us by any historians, except that Marcus Cieparius is said, in 
the third oration against Catiline, to have been named to raise the shep- 
herds in Apulia. Lentulus, Cethegus, Statilius, and Cafsius, undertook 
to fire the city, and murder their fiercest enemies ; particularly, Cethegus 
promised to despatch Cicero, and even offered, with a small force, to at- 
tack the senate-house, and to cut off all the senate at once. 

K4 



144 r, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

vero si quis est, qui Catilinae similes cum Catilina sentire non 
putet. Non est jam lenitati locus, severitatem res ipsa flagitat; 
unum etiam nunc concedam : exeant, proficiscantur, ne pa- 
tiantur desiderio suiCatilinam mi serum tabescere: demonstrabo 
iter: Aurelia via profectus est : si accelerare volent, ad vespe- 
ram consequentur. O fortunatam remp. si quidem hanc sen- 
tinam hujus urbis ejecerit! uno mehercule- Catilina exaausto, 
relevata mihi et recreata resp. videtur. Quid enim mail aut 
sceleris aut excogitari potest, quod non jlle conceperit? 
quis tota Italia veneftcus, quis gladiator, quis latro, quis sica- 
rius, quis parricida, quis testamentorum subjector^ ( 6 ) quis cir- 
cumscriptor, quis ganeo, quis nepos, quis adulter, quae mulier 
infamis, quis corruptus juventutis,. quis corruptus, quis per- 
ditus inveniri potest, qui se cum Catilina non famiJiarifsime 
vixifse fateatur ? quae caedes per liosce annos sine illo facta 
est? quod nefarium stuprum non per ilium? Jam vero quae 
tanta in ullo unquam homine juventutus iliecebra fuit, quanta 
in illo ? qui si alios ipse amabat turpifsime, aiiorum amori fla- 
gitiosifsime serviebat : aliis fructum libidinum, aliis mortem pa- 
rentum, non modo impellendo, verum etiam adjuvando polli- 
cebatur. Nunc vero quam subito non solum ex urbe, verum etiam 
ex agris ingentem numerum perditorum hominum collegerat ? 
nemo, non modo Romae, sed nee ullo in angulo totius Italia* 
pppreisus aere alieno fuit, quern non ad hoc incredibile sceleris 
foeclus adsciverit. 

V. Atque ut ejus diversa studia in difsimili ratione perspicerc 
pofsitis, nemo est in ludo gladiatorio paulo ad facinus audacior, 
qui se non intimum Catilinae efse fateatur : nemo in scena levior 
£t nequior, qui se non ejusdem prope sodalem fuifse corame- 
moret. Atque idem tamen stuprorum et scelerum exercitatione 
afsuefactus, frigore et fame, et siti ac vigiliis perferendis, fortis 
ab istis suis sociis praedicabatur, cum industrial subsidia, atque 
instrumenta virtutis in libidine audaciaque consumeret. Hunc 
vero si sui fuerint comites secuti, si ex urbe exierint desperato- 
rum hominum flagitiosi greges, 6 nos beatos! orempubl. fortu- 
natam! 6 praeclaram laudem consulatus mei! Non enim jam 
sunt mediocres hominum libidines, non humanae audaciae, ac 
tolerandae : nihil cogitant, nisi caedem, nisi indendia, nisi 
rapinas : patrimonia sua profuderunt, fortunas suas obligun- 
runt : res eos jampridem, fides deficere nuper capit ; eadem 
tamen ilia, quae erat in abundantia, libido permanet. Quod 

{6) Quis cir cumscriptor— qui s nepos,~\ Cir cumscriptor means one who 
makes it his businefs to allure and entice youth into debauchery. This 
practice was become fo common at Rome, that they had established "it into a 
kind of art or profession. Nepos, besides its proper signiheation, is frequently 
used, as here, for a debauchee and prodigal, one who had difsipated his 
patrimony in luxury and voluptuousnefs" Sallust describes at large the 
abandoned profligate crew, from among whom Catiline chose his compa- 
nions. 



145 

let them quit the city, let them follow Cati 
miserable leader to languish in their absence. Nay, I will even 
tell them the way; it is the Aurclian road: if they make haste, 
they may overtake him before night. | O happy state, were it 
but once drained of this sink of wickednefs! To me ' the absence 
-of Catiline alone, seems to have restored fresh beauty and vi- 
gour to the commonwealth. What villainy, what mischief can 
be devised or imagined, that has not entered into his thought ? 

( "What prisoner is to be found in all Italy, what gladiator, what 
robber, what afsafsin, what parricide, what forger of wdl Is, jv hat 
sharper, wdiat debauchee, what squanderer, what adulterer, 
w r hat harlot, what corrupter of youth, what corrupted wretch, 

'what abandoned criminal, who Avill not own an intimate fami- 
liarity with Catiline? What murder has been perpetrated of 
late years without him ? What act of lewdnefs speaks not him 
for its author ? Was ever man pofsefsed of such talents for cor- 
rupting youth? To some he prostituted himself unnaturally; 
for others he indulged a criminal palsion. Many were allured 
by the prospect of unbounded enjoyment, many by the pro- 
nnse of their parents' death ; to which he not only incited them, 
but even contributed his afsistance. ^What a prodigious num- 
ber of profligate wretches has he just how drawn together,! not 
only from the city, but also from the country! There. is not a 
person opprefsed with debt, I will not say in Rome, but in the 
remotest corner of all Italy, whom he has not engaged in this 
unparalleled confederacy of guilt. 

Sect. V. But to make you acquainted with the variety of his 
talents, in all the different kinds of vice; there is not a gladia- 
tor in any of our public schools, remarkable for being audacious 
in mischief, who does not own an intimacy with Catiline; not 
a player of distinguished impudence and guilt, but openly boasts 
of having been his companion. Yet this man, trained up in 
the continual exercise of lewdnefs and villainy, while he was, 
wasting in riot and debauchery the means 0f.vir.tue. and supplies 
of industry, was extolled by these his afsocia/tes for his fortitude 
and patience in supporting cold, hunger, thirst, and watchings... 
Would his companions but follow him, would "this profligate 
fcrew of desperate men but leave the city j/iiow happy would 
"it be for us, how fortunate for the commonwealth, how glorious 
for my consulship ! It is not a moderate degree"*bf depravity, a 
natural or supportable measure of- guilt that now prevails. 
Nothing lefs than murders, rapines,- and conflagrations employ 
their thoughts. They have squandered away their patrimonies, 
they have wasted their fortunes in debauchery ; they have long 
been without money, and now their credit begins to fail them ; 
yet still diey retain the same desires, though deprived of the 
means of enjoyment. Did they amidst their revels and gaming, 



CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

n who et alea cOmmefsationes solum, et scorta queererent, 
efsent illi quidem desperandi, sed tamen efsent ferendi: hoc 
vero quis ferre pofsit, inertes homines fortifeimis viris insidiari, 
stultifsimos prudentifsimis, ebriofos sobriis, dormientes vigi- 
lantibus ? qui mihi accubantes in conviviis, complexi mulieres 
impudicas, vino languid^ confecti cibo, sertis redimiti, ungu- 
entis obliti, debilitati stupris, eructant sermombus suis caedam 
bonorum, atque urbis incendia : jfquibus ego confido impendere 
fatum aliquod ; et pcenas jamdiu improbitati, nequitiae, sceleri, 
libidini debitas^ aut instare jam plane, aut certe jam appropin- 
quare. Quos si mens consulatus, quoniam sanare noil potest, 
susiulerit; non breve neseio quod tempus, sed multa saecula 
propagarit reipnbjicae. Nulla est eninl natio, quam pertimes- 
camus : irallus rex, qui bellum populo Romano inferre pofsit ; 
omnia sunt externa, unius virtute, terra marique pacata ; dq- 
mesticum bellum manet: intus insidiae sunt; intus inclusum pe- 
riculum est: intus est hostis; cum luxuria nobis, cum amentia, 
cum scelere certandum est. Huic ego me bello ducem profite- 
er, Quirites: suscipio inimicitias hominum perditorum; qu» 
sanari poterunt, quacunque ratione sanabo: quae resecanda 
crunt, nonpatiar ad perniciem civitatis manere. Proinde aut 
exeant, aut quiescant: aut, si et in urbe, et in eadem mente 
permanent; ea quae merentur, exspectent. 

VI. At etiam sunt, Quirites, qui dicant a me in exilium 
eject urn, efse Catilinam, quod ego si verbo afsequi poisem, istos 
ipsos ejicenm, qui hasc loquuntur ; homo enim videlicet timi- 
4us, et permodestus, vocem consulis ferre non potuit: simul 
atque ire in exilium jufsus est, paruit. Quid, quod hesterno 
die cum domi meae pene interfectus efsem, Senatum in acdeni 
Jovis Statoris convocavi ? rem omnem ad patres conscriptos de- 
tuli? quo cum Catilina venifset, quis eum Senator appellavit? 
quis salutavit ? quis denique ita aspexit ut perditum civem, ac 
non potius ut importunifsimum liostem ? quin etiam principes 
ejus ordinis partem illam subselliorum, ad quam ille accefserat, 
nudam atque i nan em reliquerunt/ Hie ego, vehemens ille Con- 
sul, qui verbo cives in exilium ejicio, quaesivi a Catilina, an 
n oct urn o convent u apud M. Leccam fuiiset, necne; cum ille 
homo audacifsimus, conscientia convictus, primo reticuifset ; 
|)atefeci ca&tera: quid ea nocte egifset, ubi fuiiset, quid in 
proximam constituifset, quemadmodum efset ei ratio totius bell; 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 147 

.affect no other pleasures than those of lewdnefs and feasting, 
however desperate their case must appear, it might still not- 
withstanding be borne with. But it is altogether insufferable, 
that the cowardly should .pretend to plot against the brave, the 
foolish against the prudent, the drunken against the sober, the 
drowsy against the vigilant; who lolling at feasts, embracing 
mistrefses, staggering with wine, stuffed, with victuals, crowned 
with garlands, dawbed with perfumes, wasted with intempe- 
rance, belch in their conversations of mafsacring the honest, 
and firing the city. Over such, I trust, some dreadful fatality 
now hangs ; and that the vengeance so long due to their vil- 
lainy, baseneis, guilt, and crimes, is either just breaking, or 
just ready to break upon their heads. If my consulship, since 
it cannot cure,* should cut off all these, it would add no small 
period to the duration of the republic^ For there is no nation, 
which we have reason to fear; no fcing, who ''can make war 
upon the Roman people. Ail disturbances abroad, both by 
land and sea, are quelled by the virtue of one man. ^ But a do- 
mestic war still remains: the treason, the danger, the enemy 
is within. We are to comlq^t with luxury, with madnefs, with 
villainy. In this war I prorefs myself your leader, and take 
upon myself all the animosity of the desperate. Whatever can 
pofsibly be healed, I will heal ; but what ought to be cut off, I 
will never suffer to spread to the ruin of the pity. Let them 
therefore depart, or be at rest ; but if they are resolved both to 
remain in the city, and continue their wonted practices, let 
them look for the punishment they deserve. 

Sect. VI. But some there are, Romans, who afsert, that I 
have driven Catiline into banishment. And indeed, could words 
compafs it, I would not scruple to drive them into exile too. 
Catiline, to be sure,' was so very timorous and modest, that he 
could not stand the words of the consul ; but being ordered 
into banishment, immediately acquisced and obeyed. Yester- 
day, when I ran so great a hazard of being murdered in my own 
house, I assembled the senate in the temple of Jupiter Stator, 
and laid the whole affair before the conscript fathers. When 
Catiline came thither, did so much as one senator accost or sa- 
lute him? In fine, did they regard him only as a desperate citi- 
zen, and not rather as an outrageous enemy ? Nay, the consu- 
lar senators quitted that part of the house where he sate, and 
left the whole bench clear to him. i Here I, that violent consul, 
who by a single word drive citizens into banishment, demanded 
"of Catiline, whether he had or had not been at the nocturnal 
meeting in the house of M. Lecca. And when he, the most, 
audacious of men; struck dumb by self-conviction, returned no 
answer, I laid open the whole to the senate ; acquainting them 
with the transactions of that night, where he had been> what 



145 M. T\ CICERONIS OStATIONES. 

descripta, edocui; cum haesitaret, cum teneretur; quassivi quid 
dubitaret eo prohcisci, quo jampridem pararet: cum arma, cum! 
secures, cum fasces, cum tubas, cum signa militaria, cum aqui- 
lam illam argenteam, cui ille etiam sacrarium scelerum domi 
suae fecerat, scirem else praemifsam. In exilium ejiciebam, 
quern jam ingrefcum else in bellum videbam? Etenim, credo, 
Manlius iste, centuno, qui in agro Fesulano castra posuit, bel- 
lum populo Romano suo nomine indixit: et ilia castra nunc non 
Catilinam ducem exspectant: et ille ejectus in exilium, se ( 7 ) 
Mafsiiiam, ut aiunt, non in haec castra conferet. 

VII. O conditionem miseram non modo administrandse, ve- 
rum etium conservandae reipublicae ! nunc si L. Catilma consiliis, 
laboribus, periculus meis circumclusus ac debilitatus subito per- 
timuerit, sententiam mutaverit, deseruerit suos, consilium belli 
faciendi abjeeerit, ex hoc cursu sceleris et belli, iter ad fugam 
atque exilium converterit; non ille a me spoliatus armis auda- 
eiag, non obstupefactus ac perterritus mea diligentia, non de 
spe conatuque depulsus, sed indarnnatus, mnocens, in exilium 
ejectus a consule, vi et minis efse dicetur : et erunt, qui ilium, 
si hoc feberit, non improbum, sed miserum ; me non diligentis- 
simum consulem, sed crudelifsimum tyrannum existimari ve- 
lint. Est mihi tanti, Quirites, hujus invidiae falsae atque iniquaj 
tempestatem subire, dummodo a vobis 'hujus horribihs belli ac 
nefarii periculum depellatur. Dicatur sane, ejectus efse a me, 
dummodo eat in exilium; sed mihi credite, non est iturus. 
Nunquam ego a Diis immortahbus optabo, Quirites, invidiam 
roeae levandae causa, ut L. Catilinam ducere exercitum hostium, 
atque in armis volitare audietis: sed triduo tamen audietis: 
inuitoque magis illud timeo, ne mihi sit, invidiosum aliquando, 
quod ilium emiserim potius, quam quod ejecerim. Sed*cum 
sint homines, qui ilium, cum profectus sit, ejectum else dicant; 
iidem, si interfectus efset, quid dicerent? Quanquam isti, qui 
Catilinam Mafsiiiam ire dictitant, non tain hoc queruntur, quam 
verentur. Nemo est istorum tain misericors, qui iilum non ad 
Manlium, quam ad Mafsilienses ire malit^ Ille autem, si, me- 
bercule, hoc, quod agit, nunquam ante cogitafset, tamen lutro- 
cinantem se interfici mallet, quam exsulem vivere: nunc vero, 



(7) Mafsiiiam.'] We learn from Salhtst, that Catiline, upon his leaving 
Rome, wrote letters to some of the most considerable senators, informing 
them, that being persecuted with false accusations, and finding himself 
unable to resist the faction of his enemies, he had thought proper to retire 
to Marseilles ; not from a consciousnefs of any guilt. "but to prevent the 
disputes that might be raised on his account. Marseilles was a celebrated 
city of Narbonese Gaul, renowned for the learning and politenefs of its in- 
habitants, and of whose fidelity and attachment to the Roman common- 
■wealth, Cicero.makes ample mention in his second book of OtHces. 



14$ 

was reserved for the next, and how he had settled the whole 
plan of the war. As he appeared disconcerted and speechlefs, 
I asked what hindered his going upon an expedition, which he 
had so long prepared for ; when I knew that he had already 
sent before him arms, axes, rods, trumpets, military ensigns,, 
and that silver eagle, to which he had raised an impious altar in 
his own house. / Can I be said to have driven into banishment 
a man who had already commenced hostilities against his coun- 
try ? Or is it credible that Manlius, an obscure centurion, who 
has pitched his camp upon the plains of Fesuke, would declare 
war against the Roman people in his own name: that the forces 
under him do not now expect Catiline for their general: or that 
he, submitting to a voluntary banishment, has, as some pretend, 
repaired to Marseilles, and not to the before-mentioned camp ? 

Sect. VII. O wretched condition, not only of governing, 
but even of preserving the state! Fox should Catiline, dis- 
couraged and disconcerted by my counsels, vigilance, and stre- 
nuous care of the republic, be seized with a sudden dread, change 
his resolution, desert his party, quit his hostile designs, and 
alter his course of war and guilt, into that of flight anS banish- 
ment; it will not then be said, that I have wrested out" 1 of his 
hands the weapons of insolence, that I have astonished ancr con- 
founded him by my diligence, and that I have driven him from 
all his hopes and schemes* but he will be considered as a man 
innocent and uncondemned, who has been forced into banish- \ 
ment, by the threats and violence of the consul. Nay, there 
are, who in this event would think him not wicked, but un- 
happy; and me not a vigilant consul, but a cruel tyrant. But 
I little regard this storm of bitter and undeserved censure, pro- 
vided I can screen you from the danger of this dreadful and im- 
pious war.' Let him only go into banishment, and I am Content N 
it, be ascribed to my threats. But believe me, he has no 
design to go. My desire of avoiding public envy, Romans, 
shall never induce me to wish you may hear of Catiline's being 
at the head of an army, and traversing in a hostile manner the 
territories of the republic. Bujt afsuredly you will hear it in 
three clays ; and I have much greater reason to fear being cen- 
sured for letting him escape, than that I forced him to quit the V 
city. But if men are so perverse as to complain of his being 
driven awa}', what would they have said if he had been put to 
death? Yet. there is not one of those who talk of his going to 
Marseilles, but would be sorry for it if it was true ; and with all 
the concern they exprefs for him, they had' much rather hear of 
his being in Manlius's camp. As for himself, had he never be- 
fore thought of the project he is now engaged in, yet such is his 
particular turn of mind, that he would rather fall as a robber,, 
than live as an exile. But now, as nothing has happened con- 



150 M. T. CICERONIS ORATlONES* 

cum ei nihil adhuc praeter ipsius voluntatem cogitationemque 
accident, nisi quod vivis nobis Roma profectus est ; optemus 
potius, ut eat in exilium, quam querammv 

VIII. Sed cur tamdiu de ufto hoste loquimur, et de eo' hoste 
qui jam fatetur se efse liostem, et quern, quia, quod semper vo- 
lui, murus interest, no'n timeo : de his qui difsimulant, qui Ro- 
mse remanent, qui nobiscum sunt, nihil dicimus ? quos quidem 
ego, si ullo modo fieri pofset, non tarn ulcisci studeo, quam sa- 
nare, et ipsos placare reipub. neque, id qu are fieri non pofsit, 
si me audire voluerint, iritelligo. i |Exponam enim vobis, Quiri- 
tes, ex quibus generibus homimrm istee copise comparentur : 
deinde singulis medjcinam consilii, atque orationis meas, si quam 
potero, afteram. ( 8 ) Unum genus est eorum, qui magno in aere 
alieno majores etiam pofsefsiones habent, quarum amofe ad- 
ducti difsolvi nullo modo pofsunt. Horum hominum species est 
honestiisima : sunt enim locupletes : voluntas vero, et causa 
impudentiisima.i Tu agris, aedificiis, tu argento, tu familia, tu 
rebus omnibus ornatus et copiosus sis, et dubites aliquid de pos- 
sefsione detrahere, ac fidem acquirere ? quid enim exspectas ? 
bellum ? quid ? ergo in vastatione omnium, tuas pofsefsiones 
sacrosanctas futuras putas? an tabulas novas ? Errant qui istas 
a Catilina exspectant ; meo beneficio tabulae novae proferentur, 
verum auctionariae. Neque enim isti qui pofsefsiones habent, 
alia ratione ulla salvi efse pofsunt. Quod si maturms facere vo~ 
luifsent, neque (id quod stultifsiinum est) certare cum usuris 
fructibus praediorum, locupletioribus his, et melioribas civibus" 
uteremur. Sed hosce homines minime puto pertimescendos, 
quod aut deduci de sententia pofsunt, aut, si permanebunt, ma- 
gis niihi videntur vota facturi contra remp. quam arma laturi. 

IX. Alterum ( 9 ) genus est eorum, qui, quanquam premnntur 
sere alieno, dominationem tamen exspectant ; rerum potiri vo- 
lunt : honores, quOs, quieta rcpub. desperant, perturbata conse- 



(8) Unum genus est eorum.~\ Cicero here takes a view of Catiline's forces;- 
ahd observes that thev were composed of six different clafses of men, to- 
all whom he gives advice suited to their circumstances; and which he 
shows will be infinitely more for their advantage, than the desperate mea- 
sures they had so rashly engaged in. We shall treat of them- in order. 
The first are those, who having'large estates, but considerably encumbered* 
with debt, would fain get rid of the latter, without divesting themselves of 
any part of the former. These he advises to sell part of their pofsefsionsj, 
and by that means disengage themselves from the load of debt they lay 
under; promising them all the afsistance in his power to bring about so sa- 
lutary an end, which would not only make them easy for the present, but 
establish and strengthen their creditfor the time to come. 

(9) Alterum genus est eorum.~\ The second cohort of Catiline's legion, if 
we may so exprefs ourselves, was made up of men, who being deeply in-' 
volved in debt, without any estates or pokefsions to answer the dcmar.u? 



Ro's ORATIONS. 151 

irary to bis and desire, except that I Was left alive 

when he qi ^ us rather wish he may go into ba- 

nishment, 1 f it. * ' 

Sect. VI ) I speak so much about one enemy ? 

An enemy t penly proclaimed himself such ; and 

whom I no nee, as I always wished, there is now 

a wail bet\v( s. Shall ^ say nothing o^ those who diisemble 

their treason, who continue at Rome, and mingle in. our afsem-, 
blies ? With regard to these, indeed, I am lefs intent won ven- 
geance, than to reclaim them, if pofsible, from their 'errors, and 
reconcile them to the republic.! Nor do I perceive any difficulty 
in the undertaking, if they wul but listen to my advice, For 
first I will show you, citizens, of what different sorts of mea 
their forces consist, and then apply to each, as far as I am able, 
the most powerful remedies of persuasion and eloquence. The 
first sort consists of those,, who having great debts, but stilly 
greater pofsefsions, are so pafsionately fond of the latter, that 
they cannot bear the thought of infringing them. This in ap- 
pearance is the most honourable clafs, for they are rich: but 
their intention and aim is the most infamous of all/ Art tboa 
distinguished by the pofsefsion of an estate, houses, money,; 
slaves, and all the conveniences and superfluities of life ; and dost 
thou scruple to take from thy pofsefsions, in order to add to thy 
credit ? For what is it thou expectest ? is it war ? and dost thou 
hope thy pofsefsions will remain un violated, amidst an universal 
invasion, of property ? Is it new regulations about debts thou. 
hast in view ? 'Tis an error to expect'this from Catiline. New. 
regulations shall indeed be proffered by my means, but attended 
with public auctions, which is the only method to preserve 
those who have estates from ruin. And had they consented to 
this expedient sooner, nor foolishly run out their estates in 
mortgages, they would have been at this day both richer men, 
and better citizens. But I have no great dread of this clafs of 
men,- as believing they may be easily disengaged from the con- 
spiracy ; or, should they persist, they seem more likely to have> 
recourse to imprecations than arms. 

Sect. IX. The next clafs. consists of those, who though op- 
prefsed with debt, yet hope for power, and aspire at the chief 



of their creditors, turned all their thoughts to the attainment of honours, 
dignities, and the command of armies and provinces. This put them upon 
plotting against the state, in order to create confusion and disordeV, as- 
being very sensible, that they could never hope to. see- the accomplish- 
ment of their wishes, while the republic continued hi a. state of tran- 
quillity. - 



152 M. T. CICERONIS ORAT 

qui se pofse avbitrantur. Quibus hoc n videtuiy 

unum scilicet ct idem, quod caeteris omnibus, ut o^isperent se 
id, quod eonantur, consequi pofse ; primum oi.'inium me ipsum 
vigilaie, adefse, providere reipub. deinde magnas animas else in 
bonis viris, magnam concordiam, maximam multhudinem : mag- 
nas praeterea copias militum: deos denique immortales huic in- 
vieto populo, clarifsimo imperio, pulcherrimae urbi, contra tan- 
tarn sceleris, praesentes auxilium efse laturos. Quod si jam sint 
id, quod cum summo furore cupiunt, adepti ; num. illi in cinere, 
urbis, et sanguine civium, quae mente conscelerata ac nefaria, 
concupierunt, se consules ac dictatores, aut etiam reges sperant 
futuros ? non vident id se cupere, quod si adepti fuerint, fugi- 
tivo alicui, aut gladiatori concedi sit necefse? ( I0 ) Tertium ge- 
nus est aetate jam confectum, exercitatione robustum : quo ex 
genere est ipse Manlius, cui nunc Catilina succefsit. Hi sunt 
homines ex his coloniis, quas Fesulis Sulla constituit : quas ego 
nniversas civium efse optimorum, et fortifsimorum virorum sen- 
tio: sed tamen hi sunt coloni, qui se insperatis repentinisque 
pscuniis sumptuo ias insolentiusqne jactarunt, hi dum aedificant 
tanquam bead, dum praediis, lecticis, familiis magnis, conviviis, 
apparatibus delectantur, in tantum ses alienum inciderunt, ut, 
si salvi efse velint, Sulla sit iis ab inferis excitandus : qui etiam 
nonnullos agrestes homines tenues atque egentes, in eandem 
istam spem rapinarum veterum impulerunt. Quod ego utros- 
que, Quirites, . in eodem genere praedatorum direptorumque 
pono. Sed eos hoc moneo, desinant furere, et proscriptiones 
et dictaturas cogitare. Tantus enim iilorum temporum dolor 
inustus est civitati, ut jam ista non modo homines, sed ne pe- 
cudes quidem mihi pafsurae efse videantur. 

X. Quartum ( JI ) genus est sane varium, et mistum, et turbu- 
lentum ; qui jampridem premuntur ; qui nunquam emergent : 



(10) Tertium gev us est.'] The two former clafses were made up of men, 
who indeed wished well to the conspiracy, yet thought not proper to de- 
clare themselves openly, or appear in arms against the itate. The set he now 
mentions consisted mostly of old soldiers, who, upon the conclusion of the 
civil war, had been settled in different parts of Italy, where lands were as- 
signed them by Sylla, out of the confiscated estates of those who had opposed 
Inm. These having squandered away in riot and excels, what they had 
acquired by rapine aud opprefsion, desired nothing so much as a new civil 
war, that they might a second time enrich themselves with the spoils of 
their country. Accordingly they eagerly embraced the present opportu- 
nity, and formed much the greater number of those, who were now in arms 
in Manlius's camp 

(11) Quartum genus.'] The enumeration Cicero here makes of the con- 
spirators is conceived with great art, and admirably calculated to beget 
that detestation and horror, with which he meant to inspire the minds of 
his hearers. First, we have a tribe of men immersed in debt, but rivelted 
to their pofsefsions. Secondly, men of ruined fortunes, who aspire 
after honours and commands, that, by opprefsing the allies and subjects oi 



153 

management of public affairs ; imagining they shall obtain thos£ 
honours by throwing the state into contusion, which they de- 
spair of during its tranquillity. To these? I shall give the same 
advice as to the rest, which is, to quit all hope of succeeding in 
their attempts. For first I myself am watchful, active, and at- 
tentive to the interest of the republic : then there is on the side 
of the honest party, great courage, great unanimity, a vast 
multitude of citizens, and very numerous forces : in fine, the 
immortal gods themselves will not fail to interpose in behalf o£ 
this unconquered people, this illustrious empire, this fair city, 
against the daring attempts of guilty violence. And even sup- 
posing them to accomplish, what they with so much frantic rage 
desire, do they hope to spring up consuls, dictators, or kings, 
from the ashes of a city, and blood of her citizens, which with 
so much treachery and sacrilege they have conspired to spill? 
They are ignorant of the tendency of their own desires, and that 
in case of succefs, they must themselves fall a prey to some fu> 
gitive or gladiator. /The third clafs consists of men of advanced 
age, but hardened in all the exercises of Avar. Of this sort is 
Manlius, whom Catiline now succeeds. These come mostly from 
the colonies planted by Sjdla at Fesulae; which, I am ready to 
allow, consist of the best citizens, and the bravest men : but 
coming many of tbem to the sudden and unexpected pofsefsion 
of great wealth, they run into all the excefses of luxury and pro- 
fusion. |These, by building fine houses, by affluent living, splen- 
did equipages, numerous attendants, and sumptuous entertain- 
ments, have plunged themselves so deeply in debt, that in order 
to retrieve their affairs, they must recall Sylla from his tomb.) I 
say nothing of those needy indigent rustics, whom they have 
gained over to their party, by the hopes of seeing the scheme of 
rapine renewed: for I consider both in the same light of robbers 
and plunderers. But I advise them to drop their frantic ambi- " 
tion, and think no more of dictatorships and proscriptions. For 
so deep an imp'refsion have the calamities of those times made 
upon the state, that not only men, but the very beasts would 
not bear a repetition of such outrages. 

Sect. "X. The fourth is a mixed, motley, mutinous tribe, 
who have been long ruined beyond hopes of recovery ; and partly 
through indolence, partly through ill management, partly too 



the commonwealth, they may in some measure retrieve their affairs. 
Thirdly, Sylla's veteran soldiers, who wanted to renew the rapines and de- 
vastations of the former civil war. Fourthly, a number 6t town debau- 
chees. Fifthly, a collection of parricides, cut-throats, and ruffians. And 
lastly, the whole troop of gamesters, whorem asters, and sharpers of every 
(denomination, 



154 M. T. CICEROHIS ORATIONES^ 

qiti partim inertia, partim male gerendo negotio, partim etiani: 
sumptibtis, in vertere are alieno vacillant: qui vadimoniis, judi- 
eiis, proscriptionibus boncrum defatigati$ permulti et ex urbe r 
et ex agris se in ilia castra conferre dicuntuiv Hosce ego non 
tarn milites acres, quam insidiatores lentos efse arbitror ; qui ho- 
mines primum si staM non pofsunt, corruant: sed ita, ut non 
modo civitas, sed ne vicini . qnidem proximi sentiant; nam illud 
non intelligo, quamobrem, si vivere honeste non pofsunt, perire 
turpiter veljnt; aut cur minore dolore penturos se cum multis, 
quam si soli pereant, arbitrentur. Quint um genus" est parrici- 
darum, sicariorum, denique omnium facinorosorum : quos ego a 
Catilina non revoco;. nam neque divelii ah eo pofsunt: et pere- 
ant sane in. latrocinio, quoniam sunt ita multi, ut eos capere 
career non pofsit. Postremum autem genus est, non solum nu- 
mero, veruni etiam genere ipso, atque vita, quod proprium est 
Catilina,. de ejus delectu, immo vero de complexu ejus ac sinu: 
quos pexo capiilo nitidos, aut imberbes, aut bene barbatos vide- 
ti s ; manicatis et talaribus tunicis; velis amictos, non togis: 
quorum omnis industria vita, et vigilandi labor, in antelucanis 
ccenis exprdmitur In his gregibus omnes aleatores, omnes 
adulteri,, omnes impuri, impudicique versantur. Hi pueri tarn 
lepidi ac delicati, non solum amare, et amari, neque cantare, et 
saltare, sed etiam sicas vibrare, et spargere venena didicerunt: 
qui nisi exeunt, nisi poreunt, etiam si Catilina perierit, scitote 
hoc in repub. seminarium Catilinarium futurum. Veruntamen 
quid sibi isti miseri volunt ? num suas secum mulierculas sunt in 
castra ducturi? quemadmodum autem illis carere poterunt, his 
prasertim jam noctibus? quo autem pacto illi Apenninum, atque 
illas pruinas ac nives perferent? nisi idcirco se facilius hiemera 
toleraturos putant, quod nudi in conviviis saltare didecen 
O bellum magnopere pertimescendum, cum banc sit habiturus 
Catilina scortatorum( 12 ) cohortem pratoriam! 

XL Instruite nunc, Quirites, contra has tarn praeclaras Catili- 
na? copias vestra prasidia, vestrosque exercitus: et primum gla- 
diatori illi confecto et saucio consules imperatorefque vestrcs op- 
ponite: deinde contra illam naufragorum ejectam ac debilita- 
tam manuni, ilorem todies Italia ac robur educite. Jam vero 
urbes coloniarum ac municipiorum respondebunt ( ,3 ) Catilina. 



(12) Cohortem pneioriam.'] The praetorian' cohort was a select body of 
troops, whose businefs it was to attend upon the general, and serve him by 
way of a guard. As commanders in chief were anciently called ; a 
pneeundo, we see hence the reason of the name. Scipk) xAfricanus was the 
author of this institution among the Romans, selecting the bravest men of 
the army for that purpose. These formed afterwards the pnetorian bands 
under the emperors. 

(13) CatUi?ici' invinlis siivesiribus.~\ Tumulus comes d turner: <io; for' 
wherever the earth swells, there we have a rising ground, or tumuhts. In 
some old manuscripts we read cumulis, and this seems to me to be the better 



155 

through extravagance, droop beneath a load of ancient debt ; 
who, perfecuted with arrests, judgments, and confiscations, are 
said to resort in great numbers, both from city and country, to 
the enemy's camp. These I consider, not as brave soldiers, 
but dispirited bankrupts. If they cannot support themselves, 
let them even fafi ; yet so that neither the city nor neighbour- 
hood may receile .any shock. For I am unable to perceive 
why, if they cannot live with honour, they should choose to die 
with infamy: or why they should fancy it lefs painfu] to die in: 
company with others, than to perish by themselves. J The fifth 
sort is a collection of parricides, afsafsins, and rumans of all 
kinds; whom I ask not to abandon Catiline, as knowing them to 
be inseparable. Let these even perish in their robberies, since 
their number is so great, that no prison could be found large 
enough to contain them. L The last clafs* not only in this enume- 
ration, but likewise in "character and morals, are Catiline's pe 7 
culiar afsociates, his choice companions, and bosom friends; 
such as you see with curled locks, neat array, beardlefs, Or with 
beards nicely trimmed; in full drefs, in flowing robes, and 
wearing mantles instead of gowns-; whose whole labour of life,, 
and industry in watching, are exhausted upon midnight enter- 
tainments. Under this clafs we may rank all gamesters, whore- 
masters, and the lewd and lustful of every denomination. /These 
slim delicate youths, practised in all the arts of raising and al- 
laying the amorous fire, not only know to sing and dance, but 
On occasions can aim the murdering dagger and administer the 
poisonous draught. Unlefs these depart, unlefs these perish, 
know, that was even Catiline himself to fall, we shall Itill have a 
nursery of Catilines in the state. But what can this miserable 
race have in view? Do they propose to carry their wenches 
along with them to the camp ? Indeed, how can they be with- 
out them, these cold winter nights ? But have they considered 
of the Apennine frosts and snows ? or do they imagine they 
will be the abler to endure the rigours of winter, for having 
learned to dance naked at revels ? O formidable and tremen- 
dous war, where Catiline's -praetorian guard consists of such 
a difsolute, effeminate crew I 

Sect> XL Against these gallant troops of your adversary, 
prepare, O Romans, your garrisons and armies : and first, to 
that battered and maimed gladiator, oppose your consuls and 
generals i next, against that outcast, miserable crew, lead forth ^ 
the flower and strength of all Italy. The walls of our colonies 
and free towns will easily resist the efforts of Catiline's rustic 
troops. But I ought not to run the parallel farther, or compare 



reading of the two ; for it was natural eno.ugh in Cicero, to call that promis- 
cuous multitude of rustics, afsembled together in haste, cumulos sihestres. 



156 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

tumulis silvestribus; neque vero cacteras copias, ornamenta, 
pra-sidia vestra, cum illius latronis inopia atque egestate con- 
ferre debep. Sed si, omifsis his rebus omnibus, quibus non sup- 
peditamus, eget ille,senatu, equitibus Romanis, populo, urbe, 
aerario, vectigali.bus> cuncta Italia, provinciis omnibus, exteris 
uationibus: si, inquam, his rebus omifsis, ipsas causas, quae inter 
se confiigunt, contendere velimus, ex eo ipso, quam valde illi 
jaceant, intelligere pofsumus. Em hac enim parte pudor pugnat, 
illinc petulantia : hinc pudicitia, illinc stuprum : hinc fides, illinc 
fraudatio: hinc pietas, illinc scelus : hinc constantia, illinc 
furor : hinc honestas, illinc turpitudo • hinc continentia, illinc 
libido : hinc denique aequitas, temperantia, fortitudo, prudentia, 
virtutes omnes certant cum iniquitate, cum luxuria, cum ig- 
navia, cum temeritate, cum vitiis omnibus : postremo copia cum 
egestate, bona ratio cum perdita, mens sana cum amentia, bona 
denique spes cum omnium rerum desperatione conrligit. In 
hujusmodi certamine ac prcelio, nonne, etiamsi hominum studia 
deficiant, dii ipsi immortales cogent ab his praiclariisimis virtu- 
tibus tot et tanta vitia superari ? 

XII. Qua? cum ita sint, Quirites; vos, quemadmodum jam 
antea dixi, vestra tecta custodiis vigiliisque defendite: mihi, ut 
urbi sine vestro motu ac sine ullo tumuitu, satis efset praesidii, 
consultum ac provisum est. Coloni omnes, municipesque ves- 
tri, certiores a, me facti de hac nocturnft excursione Catilina?, fa- 
cile urbes suas, finesque defendent : gladiatores, quam sibi ille 
lnaximam manum, et certii'simam fore putavit, quanquam me- 
liore animo sunt, quam pars patriciorum, potestate tamen nostra 
continebuntur. Q Metellus, quern ego prospiciens hoc, in 
agrum Gallicantmi Picenumque praemisi, aut opprimet hominem, 
aut omnes ejus motus conatusque prohibebit ; reliquis autem de 
rebus constituendis, maturandis, agendis, jam ad senatum refe- 
remus, quern vocari videtis. Nunc illos qui in urbe remanserunt, 
atque adeo qui contra urbis salutem, omniumque vestrdm, in urbe 
a Catilina reltcti sunt, quanquam sunt hostes, tamen quia nati 
sunt cives, monitos etiam atque etiam volo. Mea lenitas ad hue 
si cui solutior visa est, hoc exspectavit, ut id quod latebat, 
erumperet. Quod reliquum est, jam non pofsum oblivisci, meam 
hanc else patriam, me hormn else consulem: mihi aut cum his 
vivendum, aut pro his else moriendum ; nullus est porta? cus- 
tos, nullus iusidiator vice : si qui exire volunt, consulere sibi 



CICERo's ORATIONS. lSl 

yonr other resources, preparations, and defences, to the in- 
digence and nakcdnefs of that robber. But if, omitting all 
those advantages of which we are provided, and he destitute ; 
as the senate, the Roman knights, the people, the city, the 
treasury, the public revenues, ail Italy, all the provinces, foreign 
states: I say, if, omitting all these, we only compare the con- 
tending parties between themselves, it will soon appear how 
very low our enemieslare reduced. On the one side modesty 
contends, on the other petulance : here chastity, there pollu- 
tion: here integrity, there treachery : here piety, there pro- 
fanenefs: here resolution, there rage: here honour, there base- 
nefs : here moderation, there unbridled licentiousnefs : in 
short, equity, temperance, fortitude, prudence, struggle with 
iniquity, luxury, cowardice, rashnefs ; every virtue with every 
vice. Lastly, the contest lies between wealth and indigence, 
sound and depraved reason ; strength of -understanding 1 sand 
frenzy ; in fine, between well-grounded hope, and the most 
absolute despair. In such a conflict and struggle as this, was 
even human aid to -fail, will not the immortal gods enable such 
illustrious virtue to triumph over such complicated vice ? 

Sect. XII. Such, Romans, being our present situation, do 
you, as I have before advised, watch and keep guard in your 
private houses ; for as to what concerns the public tranquillity, 
and the defence of the city, I have taken care to secure that, 
without tumult or alarm. The colonies and municipal towns,- 
having received notice from me of Catiline's nocturnal retreat, 
will be upon their guard against him. The band of gladiators, 
whom Catiline always depended upon as his best and surest 
support, though in truth they are better affected than some 
part of the patricians, are neverthelefs taken care of in such 
a manner, as to be in the power of the republic. Q. Metellus 
the praetor, whom, forseeing Catiline's flight, I sent into Gaul 
and the district of Picenum, will either wholly crush the traitor, 
or baffle ail his motions and attempts. And to settle, ripen, 
and bring all other matters to a conclusion, I am just going to 
Jaythem before the afsembly, which you see now afsembling. 
*AsTor*those therefore who continue in the city, and were left 
1 behind by Catiline, for the destrution of it and us all ; though 
they are enemies, yet as by birth they are likewise fellow- 
citizens, I again and again admonish them, that my lenity, which 
to some may have rather appeared remifsnefs, has been waiting 
only for an opportunity of demonstrating the certainty of the 
plot. As for the rest, I shall never forget that this is my coun- 
try, that I am its consul, and that I think it my duty either to 
jive wijli my countrymen, or die for them- There is no guard 
upon the gates, none to watch the roads ; if any one has a 

L3 



3 58 T. M. CICERONIS ORATIQNES. 

pofsunt: qui vero in urbe se commoverit, cujus ego non modq' 
factum, sed inceptum ullum conatumve contra patriam depre- 
hendero, sentiet in hac urbe efse consules vigilantes, efse egre- 
gios magistratus, efse fortem senatum, efse arma, efse ( I4 -) car- 
cerem : quern vindicem nefariorum ac manifestbrum fcelerum 
iiiajores nostri efse voiuerunt. 

XIII. Atque haec omnia sic agentur, Quirites, ut res maximae 
minimo motu, pericuia summa nullo tumultu. bellum intesti- 
Bum ac domesticum, post hominum memoriam crudelifsimum 
ac maximum, ( ,s ) me uno togato duce et imperatore, sedetur ; 
quod ego sic administrabo, Quirites, ut, si ullo mpdo fieri po- 
tent, ne improbus quidem quisquam in hac urbe pcenam sui 
sceleris' sufTerat. Seel si vis manifesto adaciss, si impendens 
patriae periculum me neceisario de hac animi lenitate dedux- 
erint, illud profecto perficiam, quod in tanto et tarn insidioso 
bello vix optandum videtur, ut ne quis bonus intereat, pau- 
corumque pcena vos omnes jam salvi efse pofsitis. Quae qui- 
dem ego neque mea prudentia, neque humanis consiliis fretus 
poliiceor vobis, Quirites; sed multis et ( l6 ) non dubiis deorum 
immortalmm significationibus, quibus ego ducibus in hanc spem 
sententiaihque sum ingrefsus/ qui jam non procul, ut quondam 
solebantj ab er.rero hoste atque longinquo, sed hie praesentes suo 
iiumine atque auxilio sua templa, atque urbis tecta defendunt: 
quos Vos, Quirites, precari, venerari, atque implorare debetis : 
lit quam urbem pulcherrimani, norentifsimarri, potentifsimam- 
que efse voluerunt, hanc omnibus hostimn copiis terra marique 
superatis, a perditifsimorum civium nefario sceiere defendant. 

* (14) Carcerem — vindicem nefariorum.'] UJpian tells us, that the prison 
■was built, not for the punishment of bad citizens, but to be a check upon 
them, and prevent all occasions of punishment. Cicero here maintains 
the direct contrary, and afserts, that the great design of it was, that guilt 
and;impiety might not escape due vengeance. Both these ends are verv 
compatible, and ought doubtlef$ to be considered jointly in the present 
case. The prison was built m a conspicuous part of the city, that where 
a principle of conscience was not sufficient to restrain men, they might be 
awed by having this object of terror constantly before their eves. But if 
notwithstanding so powerful a monitor, they were so far swaved bv their 
corrupt'inclinations, as to violate the laws of their countrv, they thereby 
rendered themselves obnoxious to the demands of justice": and what was 
primarily intended only to restrain men, and prevent the commiision of 
crimes, became, after they were committed, a place of suffering and pu- 
nish men t. ■ 

(15) Me uno togato duce et imperatore.'] The consuls, before their setting 
out on any military expedition, used to put off their gOwns, and put on 
their military drels, with great Ceremony and public sacrifices. Cicero 
tells them, his scheme for supprefsing the conspiracy was so weii laid, that 
•without changing his gown, the drels of peace, he would quell all the dis- 
turbance. - 
■-; (16) Non dubiis deorum immortalium significationibus.'] Plutarch, in his 
life of Cicero, tells us, that while Terentia, the orators wife, with the \\ 
■ rgins, and the principal matrons of Rome, were sacriiicipg, accordh 






ERO 



crc^kos ORATIONS! 159 

mind to withdraw himself, he may go wherever he pleases. 
But whoever makes the least stir within the city, so as to be 
-caught not only in any overt-act, hut even in any plot or at- 
tempt against the republic, he shall know that there are in it 
vigilant consuls, excellent magistrates, and a resolute senate ; 
that there are arms, and a prison, which our ancestors provided 
as the avenger of manifest and atrocious crimes. 

Sect. XIII. And all this shall be transacted in- such a manner, 
citizens, that the greatest disorder, shall be quelled without the 
least hurry ; the greatest dangers without any tumult ; a domestic 
and intestine war, the most cruel and desperate of any in our 
memory, by me your only leader and general in my gown ; which 
I will manage so, that, as far as it is poisible, not one even of 
the guilty shall suffer punishment in the city : but if their au- 
daciousnefs and my country's danger should necefsarily drive 
me from this mild resolution; yet I will affect, what in so cruel 
and treacherous a war could hardly be hoped for, that not one 
honest man shall fall, but all of you be sate by the punishment 
of a few. VFhis I promise, citizens, not from any confidence of 
my own prudence, or from any human counsels, but from the 
many evident declarations of the gods, by whose impulse I am. 
led into this persuasion ; who afsist us, not as they used to do, 
at a distance, against foreign and remote enemies, but by their 
.present help and protection, defend their temples and our 
houses. It is your part, therefore, citizens, to worship, implore, 
and pray to them, that since all our enemies are now subdued 
both by land and sea, they would continue to preserve this city, 
which was designed by them for the most beautiful, the most 
flourishing, and most powerful on earth, from the detestable 
treasons of its own desperate citizens. 



annual custom, to the goddcfs Bona, a bright flame ifsued suddenly from 
the altar, to the astonishment of the whole company. Many other pro- 
digies happened during the course of the conspiracy, of all which Cicero 
makes frequeut mention in his speeches : for it was of great use to him, to 
pofsefs the minds of the people, as strongly as he could, with an apprehen- 
sion of their danger, for the sake of disposing them the more easily to ap- 
prove .his conduct, and concur with him in^whateyer measures he should 
think necefsary for the public safety. He also improves this circumstance 
t6 animate the people, by representing the gods as interesting themselves 
particularly in their preservation, and pointing out to them the course 
they were to pursue. 



1,4 



ORATIO VI. 



3. IN L. CAT1LINAM* * 



I.TJ EMFUBLlCAM, Quirites, vitamque omnium vestrum, 

l\r bona, fortunas, conjuges, liberosque vestros, atque hoc 

domicilium clarifsimi imperii, fortunatifsimam pulcherrimamque 

lu'bem* hodierno die, deorum immortalium summo erga vos 

* Catiline, as we have seen, being forced to leave Rome ; Lentulus, and 
the restj who remained in the city, began to prepare all things for the exe- 
cution of their grand design. They solicited men of all ranks, who seemed 
likely to fayour their cause, or to be of any use to it ; and among the rest, 
agreed to make an attempt upon the ambafsadors of the Allobrogians, 
a warlike, mutinous, faithlefs people, inhabiting the countries now called 
Savoy and Dauphiny, greatly disaffected to the Roman power* and already 
ripe for rebellion. r .These ambafsadors, who were preparing to return 
home, much out of humour with the senate, and without any redrefs of 
the grievances which the\ were sent to complain of, received the proposal 
at first very greedily, and promised to engage their nation to al'sist the 
conspirators with what they principally wanted, a good body of horse, 
whenever they should begin the war ; but reflecting afterwards, in their 
cooler thoughts, on the difficulty of the enterprife, and the danger of in- 
volving themselves and their country in so desperate a cause, they re- 
solved to discover what they knew to Q. Fabius banga, the patron of their 
city, who immediately gave intelligence of it to the consul. Cicero's in- 
structions upon it were, that the ambafsadors should continue to feign the 
same zeal which they had hitherto shown, and promise every thing which 
was required of them, till thev had got a full insight into the extent of the 
plot> with distinct proofs against the particular actors in it: upon which, 
at their next conference wiih the conspirators, they insisted on having 
some credentials from them to show to their people at home, without 
which they would never be induced to enter into an engagement so hazard* 
ous. This was thought reasonable, and presently complied with, and 
Vultureius was appointed to go along with the ambafsdors, and introduce 
them to Catiline on their road, in order to confirm the agreement, and ex- 
change afsurances also with him; to whom Lentulus sent at the same time 
a particular letter under his own hand and seal, though without his name. 
Cicero being punctually informed of all these facts, concerted privately 
with the ambafsadors the time and manner of their leaving Rome in the" 
iiight, and that on the Milvian bridge, about a mile from the city, they 
sho.ukl be anested with their papers and letters about them, by two of the 
praetors, L. Flaccus and C. Pontinius, whom he had instructed lor that pur* 
pose, and ordered to lie in ambush near the place, with a strong guard of 
friends and soldiers; all which was succefsfully executed, and the whole 
company brought prisoners to Cicero's house by break of day. The ru- 
mour of this accident presently drew a resort of "Cicero's principal friends 



ORATION VI. 



3. AGAINST CATILINE. 



Sect. I.HfXKDAY, Romans, you behold the commonwealth, 
X your lives, estates, fortunes, your wives and chil- 
dren, the august seat of this renowned empire, this fair and 
flourishing city, preserved and restored to you, rescued from fire 
and sword, and almost snatched from the jaws of ,fate, by the 
distinguished love of the immortal gods towards 1 you, and by 



about him, who advised him to open the letters before he produced them 
in the senate, lest if nothing of moment were found in them, it might be 
thought rash and imprudent to raise an unnecefsary terror and alarm 
through the city. But he was too well informed of the contents, to fear 
any censure of thatkmd; and declared, that in case of public danger, 
he thought it his duty to lay the matter entire before the public council. 
He summoned the senate therefore to meet immediately, and sent at the 
same time for Gabinius, Statilius, Cethegus, and Lentulus, who all came 
presently to his house, suspecting nothing of the discovery ; and being in- 
formed also of a quantity of arms provided by Cethegus for the use of the 
conspiracy, he ordered C. Sulpicius, another of the praetors, to go and 
search his house, where he found a great number of swords and daggers, 
with other arms, all newly cleaned, and ready for present service. With 
this preparation he set out to meet the senate in the temple of Concord, 
with a numerous guard of citizens, carrying the ambafsadors and the con- 
spirators wiVh him in custody : and after he had given the afsembly an 
account of the whole affair, the several parties were called in and examined, 
and an ample discovery made of the whole prbgrefs of the plot. After the 
criminals and witnefses were wit!: , the senate went into a debate 

upon the state of the republic, a e unanimously to the Following 

resolutions: That public thanks should be decreed to "Cicero in the am- 
plest manner; by whose virtue, counsel, and providence, the republic 
was delivered from the greatest dangers: that Flaccus and Pomtinus, the 
praetors, should be thaiiked lib for their vigorous and punctual exe- 

cution of Cicero's orders; tl mius, the other consul, should be 

praised for having removed 1 counsels all those who were con- 

cerned in the conspiracy; that 1 entulus, after having abdicated the prae- 
torship, and divested himself of his robes; and Cethegus, Statiiius, and 
Gabinius, with their other dices also, when taken, Cuisius, Capa- 

rius, Furicis, Chilo, Umb hould be committed to safe custodv; 

and that a public thanks aid be appointed in Cicero's name, for 

his having preserved th< rii a. conflagration, the citizens from a 

ma/sacre, and Italy from The senate being difmifsed, Cicero went 

directly into the rostra; ai 1, in the following speech, gave the people an 
'•account of the'discove been made, with the resolutions of the 



ate consequent th 






I M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

. , laboribus, consiliis periculisque meis, ex flamma atqrre 
erro, ac pene (') ex faucibus fati ereptam et Vobis conserv'atam 
acf restitutam videtis. Et, si non minus nobis jucundi atque il- 
lustres sunt ii dies, quibus conservamur, quam illi, quibus nasci- 
inur; ( z ) quod salutis certa leetitia est, nascendi incerta condi- 
tio ; et quod sine sensu nascimur, cum voluptate conservamur 
profecto, quoniam ilium qui banc urbem condidit, ( 3 ) Romulum 
ad deos immortales benevoientia, famaque sustulimus ; efse apud 
vos, posterosque vestros in honore debebit is, qui eandem hanc 
urbem conditam amplificatamque servavit ; nam toti urbi, tem- 
plis, delubris, tectis ac mcenibus subjectos prope jam ignes, 
circundatosque restinximus : iidemque gladios in rempub. re- 
strictos retudimus, mucronesque eorum a jugulis vestris dejeci- 
snus. Quae quoniam in senatu illustrata, patefacta, comperta- 
que sunt per me, vobis jam exponam breviter, Quirites, ut et 
quanta, et quam manifesta, et qua ratione investigata et coni- 
prehensa sint, vos, qui et ignoratis, et exspectatis, scire poi'sitis. 
Principio, ut Catilina paucis ante diebus erupit ex urbe, cum 
sceleris sui socios, et hujusce nefarii belli acerrimos duces Romae 
reliquifsct ; semper vigilavi, et providi, Quirites, quemadmo- 
dum in tantis et tarn absconditis insidiis salvi efse polsemus. 

II. Nam turn, cum ex urbe Catilinam ejiciebam (non enim 
jam vereor hujus verbi invidiam, cum ilia magis sit timenda, 
quod vivus exierit), sed turn cum ilium exterminari volebam ; 
aut reliquam conjuratorum manum simul exitura maut eos qui 
stitifsent, innrmos sine illo, ac debiles fore putabam. Atque 
ego, ut vidi, quos maximo furore, et scelere efse inflammatos 
sciebam, eos nobiscum efse, et Romae remansifse : in eo omncs 
dies noctesque consumpsi, ut quid agerent, quid molirentur, 
sentirem ac viderem: ut, quoniam auribus vestris, propter in- 
credibilcm magnitudinem sceleris, minorem fidem faceret ora- 

(1) Exjaucibusfati.~\ A metaphorical exprefsion, alluding to the danger 
incurred by an attack from bcaMs in. prey. Fate, according to the Stoics, 
was a certain immutable series of events, which followed one another in 
train, by such an unavoidable necefsity, that even the gods themselves 
could not hinder their coming to pafs. * The reason why tins word is often 
used by the ancients, to denote death, or the difsohition of states and 
kingdoms, may be best derived from a notion which prevailed among 
them, that at the very moment of a man's birth, the day of his death was 
irrevocably fixed by fate; and that in all governments, the seeds of difso- 
lution were mixed with their original frame, and never failed to operate 
when the. appointed time came. 

(2) Quod salulis certa Letilia €si.~[ "When we escape any imminent dan- 
ger that threatened us, and under the apprehension of which we were un- 
easy, we are sensible of our good fortune, and taste the safetv we enjoy 
wit'h the highest relish. Hence, a day of preservation is always a* day of joy 
and triumph. But now the day of our birth is not attended "with any such 

consciousnefs; and even supposing it were, yet is the condition of '" - 

life attended with so much uncertainty, that it is hard to say whetl 

have more reason to lament or rejoice. For how often is our presei 
dition so entangled with snares and difficulties, that a wise man wouh 
it rather to be shunned than coveted? Nay, whole nations have ma 



CiUJbKU & UKAMUINB. 163 

isaeans of my toils, counsels, and dangers, And if the days in 
which we are preserved from ruin, be no lefs joyous and me- 
morable than those of our birth ; because the pleasure of deli- 
verance is certain, the condition to which we are born uncer- 
tain ; and because we never enter upon life without conscious r / 
nefs, but are always sensible to the joys of preservation: surely, 1 
since our gratitude and esteem for Romulus, the founder of this 
city, has induced us to rank him amongst the immortal gods ; 
he cannot but merit honour with you and posterity, who has 
preserved the same city, with all its accefsions of strength and 
grandeur. For we have extinguished the flames that were dis- 
persed on all sides, and just ready to seize the temples, sanc- 
tuaries, dwellings, and walls of this city; we have blunted the 
swords that were drawn against the state, and turned aside the 
daggers that were pointed at your throats. And as all these 
particulars have been already explained, cleared, and fully 
proved by me in the senate ; I shall now, Romans^ lay them 
briefly before you, that such as are strangers to what has 
happened, and wait with impatience to be informed, may un- 
derstand what a terrible and manifest destruction hung over 
them, how it was traced out, and in what manner discovered. 
And first, ever since Catiline, a few days ago, fled from Rome ; 
as he left behind him the partners of his treason, and the boldest 
champions of this execrable war, I have always been upon the 
watch, Romans, and studying how to secure you amidst such 
dark and complicated dangers. 

Sect. II, For at that time, when I drove Catiline from Rome 
(for now Idre.ad no reproach from that word, but rather the 
censure of having suffered him to escape alive) ; I say,- when 
I forced him to quit Rome, I naturally concluded, that the* 
rest of his. accomplices would either follow him, or, bein^ 
deprived of his afsistance, would proceed with lefs vigour and 
hrmnefs. But when I found that the most daring and forward 
of the conspirators still continued with us, and remained in the 
city ; I employed myself night and day to unravel and fathom 
all their proceedings and designs: that since my words found 
lefs credit with you, because of the inconceivable enonnity 
of the treason, I might lay the whole so clearly before you, 

a practice to consider the day of a man's nativity, as a day rather of sorrow 
than joy ; because he then entered into a state of misery and tribulation. 

(3) Romuluin ad deos sustulimus.~\ So we learn from A urelius Victor, 
cap. 2. de viris illust. Cum ad Caprete paludem exercitum lusirares, nusquam 
comparuit, wide inde patres et populum seditionc orta, Julius Proculus, yir 
nobilis, in concionem procefsit, et jurejurando firmavit, Romulum a se in 
colle Quirinali visum augustiore forma, cum ad deos abiret ; eundemque prai~ 
Qipere ut seditionibus abstinerent, virtutem colerent ; jututum lit omnium 
'gentium domini existerent. Hujus auctoritati creditum est, JEdes in colle 
Quirinali Romulo constiiuta, ipso pro deo cultus, Qjuirinus est appellctm* 



154 M. T. CICERONIS 6RATION£S. 

tio mea, rem ita comprehend erem, ut turn demum animis saluti 
Vestrae provideretis, cum oculis maleficium ipsum videretis. Ita- 
que ut comperi legatos ( 4 ) Allobrogum, ( 5 ) belli Transalpini, et 
tumultus Gallici excitanda causa, a P. Lentulo efse solicitatos, 
eosque in Galliam ad suos cives, eodem itiaere cum literisman- 
■datisque ad Catilinam else mifsos, comitemque iis adjunctum 
Vulturcium, atque huic datas efse ad Catalinam literas : fa- 
cultatem mihi oblatam putavi ut, quod erat ■■ difticillimum, 
quodque ego semper optabam a, diis immortalibus, tota res 
non solum a me, sed etiam a senatu, et a vobis manifeste 
cleprehenderetur. Itaque hesterno die L. Flaccum, et C. Pom- 
tinum praetores, fortifsimos atque amantifsimos reipublicae 
viros, ad me vocavi : rem omnem exposui : quid fieri pJaceret, 
ostendiv -— Uli autem qui omnia de republ. praeclara atque 
egregia sentirent, sine recusatione, ac sine ulla, mora, negotium 
susceperunt, et cum . advesperasceret, occulte ad pontem Mil- 
vium pervenerunt: atque ibi in proximis villis ifa bipartiti 
fuerunt, ut Tiberis inter eos, et pons interefset ; eodem autem 
et ipsi, sine cujusquam suspicione, multos fortes viros eduxe- 
runt ; et ego de pratfectura Reatina complures delectos adole- 
scentes, ( 6 ) quorum opera utor afsidue in reipublicac prsesidio, 
cum gladiis miseram. , Interim ( 7 ) tertia fere vigilia exacta; 

(4) Allobrogum.'] These were Gauls, who pafsing the Alps, settled on the 
Italian side, in those parts now called Savoy and Piedmont. They were 
a brave people, and maintained a war with the Romans for a long time; 
but, before this, had been totally subdued, and governed by the Roman 
praetor, who had the care of Gallia Narbonensis. About the time of the 
breaking out of this conspiracy, they had sent ambafsadors to Rome, to 
complain of the opprefsion and extortion of their governor. Lentulus 
took this opportunity x>f increasing the strength of the conspiracy, by pro- 
posing the Allobrogians an abatement of their taxes, if they would rise in 
favour of Catiline, and afsist aim with their forces. The ambafsadors, alter 
some deliberation, resolved to discover the affair to Q. Fabius Sanga, their 
patron at Rome, who immediately disclosed it to Cicero. The consul ad- 
vised them to agree with .he conspirators, and get a covenant from them 
signed by the principal men, to carry home to their constituents. This 
the conspirators consent to, and at the same time desire them to take Ca- 
tiline's camp in their way; for which purpose they send one of their party, 
Vulturcius, along with them, with letters to their general. Cicero getting 
notice of this from the ambafsadors, took the whole party prisoners upon 
the road, and by this means had full proof against Lentulus, and the other 
heads of the plot, whom he immediately seized. 

(j) Belli Transalpirii, et tumultus Gallici. .] When the Roman arms were 
employed in Farther Gaul, this Cicero calls a uar; but when Hither Gaul 
was the scene of action, he gives it the name of a tumult, tumultus. The 
difference between these two lies in this, that war is a word of a more ex- 
tensive signiiication,fand was not accounted so formidable as a tumult. For 
by a tumult the Romans understood some very dangerous commotion, that 
threatened the capital of the empire itself, as* happening either in the very 
/bosom of Italy, or in Cisaipine Gaul, a country tliat immediately bordered 
upon Italy, and whose inhabitants had formerly brought amities 

upon the Romans. But we cannot better distinguish bel urn and 

4 



(cicero's orations. 165 

as to compel you at length to take measures for your owa 
safety, when you could no longer avoid seeing the danger that 
threatened }^ou. Accordingly, when I found that the embassa- 
dors of the Allobrogians had been solicited by P. Lentulus to 
kindle a war beyond the Alps, and raise commotions in Hither 
Gaul ; that they had been sent to engage their state in the cor 
spiracy, with orders to confer with Catiline by the way. 
whom they had letters and instructions ; and that Vuiturcius 
appointed to accompany them, who was likewise entrust' ■•■ 
letters to Catiline; I thought a fair opportunity offer 
only of satisfying myself with regard to the conspiracy 
wise of clearing it up to the senate and you, which had alwavs 
appeared a matter of the greatest difficulty, and I con- 

stant subject of my prayers to the immortal god; i'e :erday, 
therefore, I- sent for the praetors L. Flaccus aud C. Pomtinus, 
men of known courage, and distinguished zeal : republic. 

I laid the whole matter before them, and made them acquainted 
with what I designed. They, full of the noblest and most ge- 
nerous sentiments with regard to their con undertook tha 
businefs without delay or hesitation; an che approach of 
night, privately repaired to the Mily-iai 3, where they dis- 
posed themselves in such manner in the i] ghbouring villages, 
that they formed two bodies, with the river and bridge betweea 
them. They likewise carried along with them a great number 
of brave soldiers, without the least suspicion ; and I despatched 
from the prefecture of Reate several chosen youths well armed* 
whose afsistance I had frequently used in the defence of the 
commonwealth. In the mean time, towards the close of the 
the third watch, as the deputies of the Allobrogians, accom- 
panied by Vuiturcius, began to pafs the bridge with a great re- 



tumultus, than in the words of Cicero himself, who thus speaks of them in 
his eighth Philippic!* : Potest enim efse helium sine tumultu, tumullMs efse 
sine hello non potest. Quid est enim aliud tumultus, nisi perturbatio tantci , 
yt major limor oriatur ? Unde etiam nomen dictum est tumultus. I/ague 
majoies nostri tumult um Italicum, quod $ rat domesticus : tumultum Gallicum, 
quod, erat Italia' finitimus: prccterea nullum tumultum nominabant, S('c. 

(6) Quorum opera utor afsidue in reipubliaz prcesidio, cum gladiis mise* 
ram."] Muretus observes, that in some ancient manuscripts of Cicero, the 
sentence runs thus : Quorum opera, utor afsidut in republican presidio cum 
gladiis miseram; according to which way of pointing and reading, 
prcesidio is to be joined with ?niseram, so as to render the construction of 
that paragraph miseram prcesidio, not in prcesidio reipublicce. Of the four I 
first and principal editors of Cicero, Lambinus alone approves this emend- 
ation of Muretus. Grsevius has admitted it into the text itself, but, I am 
apt to think, without due consideration ; for as Buherius judiciously ob- 
serves, eorum operci uteris in republica, quas in concilium advocas ; Opera 
in reipublicaj pnesdio ab iis ponitur quimanu earn dejendunt. Reatinos au- 
tem adolescentes illos, non adhibebat sane ad consultandurn Cicero, Esrum 
igitur opera non u/ebafur in republica, sed in prresidio reipablica?. 
, (7) Tertidfere vigilia epcactu!] The division of the night into four watches 
fcy tbVancients, is mentioned by Julius Pollux, in his first hook, Suida^ 



2 66 :ronis orAtiones. 

cum jam pc ^no comitatu legati Allobrogum in- 

o redi incipe ulturcius ; sit in eos impetus : edu- 

cuntur et ab a nostris : res erat praetoribus nota 

solis : ignorabatur a caeteiis. 

III. Turn interventu Pomtini atque Flaeci, pugna, quae erat. 
mifsa, secUtur: literee quaecunque erant in eo comitatu, in- 

signis, praetoribus traduntur : ipsi comprebensi, ad me, 
im dilucesceret, deducuntur. Atque horum omnium 
improbifsimum machinatorem Cimbrum Gabinium. 
sta pe, nihil dum suspicantem vocavi, Deinde item ar- 

eefsii atilius, et post eum Cethegus : tardifsime autem 

Lentui . ut ; credo quod Uteris dandis praeter consuetudinem 

proximk karat. Cum vero summis ac clarifsimis hujus 

eivkatis vti audita re, frequenter ad me mane convene- 

rant, literas s aperiri, quam ad senatum referri place- 

ret, ne, si hili nventum, temere a me tantus tumultus 

injectus civkati \ etur, negavi me efse facturum, ut de peri- 
culo publico 1 non ad consilium publicum rem integram deferrem. 
Etenim, Quirkes, si ea, quae erant ad me delata, reperta nor* 
efsent ; tamen ego non arbkrabar in tantis reip. periculus efse 
mihi nimiam diligentiam pertimescendam. Senatum frequentem 
celeriter, ut vidistis, coegi; atque interea statim, admonku 
Allobrogum, C. Sulpicium praetorem, fortem virum misi, qui ex 
aedibus Cethegi, si quid telorurn efset, afferret : ex quibus ille 
maximum sicarum numermn et gladiorum extulit. 

IV. Introduxi Vulturcium sine Gailis : fidem ei publicam jufsu 
senatus dedi: bortatus sum, ut ea quae sciret, sine timore indi- 
caret. Turn ille dixit, cum vix se ex magno timore recreas- 
set, a P. Lentulo se habere ad Catilinam mandata et literas, ut 
servorum praesidio uteretur, et ad urbem quamprimum cum ex- 
ercitu accederet: id autem eo consilio, ut, cum urbem omni- 
bus ex partibus, quemadmodum descriptum distributumque 
erat, incendifsent, caedemque infmitam civium fecifsent, prasto 
efset ille, qui et fugientes exciperet, et se cum his urbanis du- 
cibus conjungeret. Introducti autem Galli jusjurandum sibi et 
literas a P. Lentulo, Cethego, Statilio ad suam gentem datas 
efse dixerunt : atque ita sibi ab his et a L. Cafsio efse pra>scrip- 
tum, ut equitatum in Italiam quamprimum mitterent, pedes- 
tres sibi copias non defuturas: Lentulum autem sibr conrir- 
mafse ex fads Sibyllinis, haruspicumque responsis, se efse ter- 



too takes notice of it, and exnrefsh- calls a watch the fourth part of a' night. 
They commenced at sun-setting, and ended at sun-rising, consisting each 
of three hours; so that the third watch began exacth "at midnight, and 
Glided about three in the morning, supposing the sun to" rise at six. 



CICERO S ORATIONS* 1(77 

tJnue, ouy men came out against them, and swords were drawn 
on both sides. The affair was known to the praetors alone, none 
else being admitted into the secret* 

Sect. III. Upon the coming up of Pomtinus and Flaecus, the 
conflict ceased ; all the letters they carried with them were de- 
livered sealed to the praetors ; and the deputies with their whole 
retinue being seized, were brought before me, towards the 
dawn of day. 1 then sent for Gabinius Cimber, the contriver 
of all these detestable treasons, who suspected nothing of what 
had pafsed. L. Statilius was summoned next, and then Cethe- 
gus. Lentulus came the last of ail, probably because, contrary 
to custom, he had been up the, greatest part of the night before, 
making out the despatches. Many of the greatest and most 
illustrious men in Rome, hearing what had pafsed, crowded to 
my house in the morning, and advised me to open the letters 
before I communicated them to the senate y lest, if nothing ma- 
terj/4 was found in them, I should be blamed for so rashly oc- 
casioning so great an alarm in the city. But I refused to com- 
ply, that an afFair which threatened public danger might come 
entire before the public council of the state. \For, citizens, had 
the informations given me appeared to be without foundation, 
I had yet little reason to apprehend that any censure would be- 
fall me for my over-diligence in so dangerous an aspect of things* 
I immediately afsembled, as you saw, a very full senate: and 
at the same time, in consequence of a hint from the Allobrogiart 
deputies, despatched C. Sulpicius the praetor, a man of known 
courage, to search the house of Cethegus, where he found a 
great number of swords and daggers. 

Sect. IV. I introduced Vultureius without the Gallic depu- 
ties ; and, by order of the house, offered him a free pardon in 
the name of the public, if he would faithfully discover all that he 
knew: upon which, after some hesitation, he confefsed that he 
had letters and instructions from Lentulus to Catiline,, to prefs 
him to accept the assistance of the slaves, and to lead his army 
with all expedition towards Rome, to tne intent that when, ac- 
cording to the scheme previously settled and concerted among 
them, it should be set on fire in different places, and the gene- 
ral mafsacre begun, he might be at hand to intercept those who 
escaped, and join with his friends in the city. The ambafsa- 
dors were next brought in, who declared, that an oath of se- 
crecy had been exacted from them, and that they had received 
letters to their nation from Lentulus, Cethegus, and Statilius; 
that these three, and L. Cafsius also, required them to send a body 
of horfe as soon as possible into Italy, declaring that they had 
no occasion for any foot :' tb at Lentulus had afsiired them from 



IBS M. T. CICEROKIS ORATK 

tium ilium Cornelium ( 8 ), ad quern regnum urbis hujus, a 
imperium ipervenire efset necefse: Cinnam ante se, et Sy 
fuifse. eundemque dixifse, fatalem hunc efse annum ad int 
turn hujus urbis atque imperii, qui efset decimus annus 
virginum absolutionem, post capitolii autem incensionen 
mus; banc autem Cethego cum caeteris coutroversiam 
dixerunt, quod, cum Lentulo et caeteris Saturnalibus caec 1 
fieri, atque urbem incendi placeret, Cethego nimium id longum 
videretur. 

V. Ac, ne longum sit, Quirites, tabellas proferri jufsimQ; , 
a quoque dicebantur datge, primum ostendimus Cethego signum : 
cognovit; nos linum incidimus: legimus; erat scriptum ipsiu: 
manu, Allobrogum senatui et populo, sese, quae eorum leg 
confirmafset, efse facturum ; orare, ut item illi facerent, quae 
legati eorum (9) proecepifsent. Turn Cethegus, qui paulo i 
aliquid tamen de gladiis ac sicis, quae apud ipsum erant depic- 
hensae, refpondifset, dixifsetque se semper bonorum feitani^i- 
torum studiosum, fuifse recitatis Uteris debilitatus atque abjecnls, 
conscientia convictus repente conticuit. Introductus Statilius, 
cognovit et signum et manum suam; recitatae sunt tabellae in 
eandem fere sententiam : confefsus est ; turn ostendi tabellas Len- 
tulo, et quoesivi cognosceretne signum ; annuit ; est vero, inquam, 
signum quidem notum, imago avi tui, clariisimi viri, qui amavit 
unice patriam, et cives suos ; quae quidem te a tanto scelere etiam 
muta revocare debuit. Leguntur eadem ratione ad senatum Al- 
lobrogum populumque litera?; si quid de his rebus diccre vellet, 
feci potestatem. Atque ille quidem primo negavit: post autem 
aliquanto, toto indicio exposito atque edito, surrexit : quaesivit a 
Gallis, quid sibi efset cum iis, quamobrem domum suam venifsent ; 
Itemque a, Vulturcio; qui cum ilii breviter constanterque refpon- 
difsent, per quern ad euin,quotiesque venifsent; quaesifsent que ab 
eo, nihiinc secum efset de fatis Sibyllinis locutus: turn ille subito, 

."= - ' ■ ==as 

(S) Harufpicumque responsis se efse Urtium ilium Cornelium.] The Ha- 
fuspices or Arusptces were so called, according to the most common deri- 
vation quia 'in araexta animalium inspiciebant. Donatus, however, gives 
the word another etvmology. Haruspex, says he, ab Harugd tiominatur ; 
nam Haruga dicitur hostia ab Hard, in qua concluditnr et scrvatur. Hoard 
autem est, in qua pecora includuntur. From the Sibylline books, and the 
answers of t lie soothsayers, Lentulus was made to believe that he was the 
the third Cornelius destined to rule in Rome. It seems, among the Sibyl- 
line verses, there' were found three k's; which the Greeks interpreted of 
the Cappadocians, Cilicians, and Cretan's; but the Romans applied them 
to three of the" name of Cornelius, viz. Ciana, Sylla and Lentulus. 

(9) Prcecepi/sent.] This reading is supported by the authority of almost 
all the manuscripts and editions of Cicero, If we admit it, the pafsage 
must be explained thus: ut item illi facerent, videlicet, scnatus et populux 
Gallorum, quce sibi, nempe senatui et populo Gal forum, kgati pnecepifsent, 
id est, prct'scripfifsent, et faciendum efse ostendifseut. But Muretus thinks 
vfc ou^ht to read recepifseut, according to which the sejise of Cicero wifij 



CICERo's ORATIONS. *69 

the Sibylline books, and the answers of soothsayers, that 
he was the third Cornelius, who was destined to empire, and 
the sovereignty of Rome, which Cinna and Sylla had enjoyed 
before him ; and that this was the fatal year marked for the 
destruction of N the city and empire, being the tenth from the 
acquittal of the vestal virgins, and the twentieth from the burn- 
ing of the capitol : that there was some dispute between Cethe- - 
gus and the rest about the time of firing the city ; because 
while Lentulus and the other conspirators were for fixing it on 
the feast of Saturn, Cethegus thought that day too remote and 
dilatory. 

Sect. V. But hot to be tedious, Romans, I at last ordered the 
letters to be produced, which were said to be sent by the dif- 
ferent parties. I first showed Cethegus his seal ; which he 
owning, I opened and read the letter. It was written with his 
own hand, and addrefsed to the senate and people of the Allo- 
hrogians, signifying, that he would make good what he had 
promised to their ambafsadors, and entreating them also to per- 
form what the ambafsadors had undertaken for them. Then 
Cethegus, who a little before being interrogated about the arms 
that were found at his house,' had answered, that he was always' 
particularly fond of neat arms ; upon hearing his letter read, 
was so dejected, confounded, and self-convicted, that he could 
^riot utter a word in his own defence. Statilius was then brought 
in, and acknowledged his hand and seal; ^nd when his letter; 
was read, to the same purpose with that of 4 Cethegus 'j he con- 
fefsed it to be his own. Then Lentulus's letter was produced, t 
asked if he knew the seal ? he owned he did. It is indeed, said 
I, a well-known seal ; the head of your ilhistrious grandfather, 
so distinguished for his love to his country and fellow-citizens, 
that it is amazing the very sight of it- was not sufficient to re- 
strain you from so black a treason. His letter, directed to the 
senate and people of the Allobroges, Avas of the same import 
with the other two; but having leave to speak for himself, he 
at first denied the whoie charge, and began to question the am- 
bafsadors and Vulturcius, what businefs they ever had with him, 
and on what occasion they came to his house ? To which they 
gave clear and distinct answers; signifying by whom, and how 
often they had been introduced to him ; and then asked him in 
their turn, whether he had never mentioned any thing to them, 
about the Sibylline oracles ? upon which being confounded, or 



be, qiuB sibi, nempe Leniulo, legati eorum recepifsmt, id est, spopondifs&tit^ 
etsuo periculo promisifsent. T* is much the better reading, and fur-' - 
nishps by far the jaost ^.tvtal aad obvious sepse. 

M 



nO M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES 

scelere demons, quanta vis conscientiae efset, ostendit ; narft 
cum id poiset iitficiarj, repente prater opinionem omnium con- 
leisus est: ita cum non modo ingenium illud, et dicendi exer- 
citatio, qua semper valuit^sed etiam propter vim sceleris mani- 
fest! atque deprehensi, impudentia, qua superabat omnes, im- 
probatasque defecit. Vulturcius vero subito proferri litcras, 
atque aperiri jufsit, quas sibi a Lentulo ad Catilinam datas ef>e 
dicebat. Atque ibi vehementifsime perturbatus Lentulus., ta- 
uten et sigmun et manum suam cognovit; erant autem scripts 
sine nomme, sed ita: ( ,0 ) QUI SIM, EX EO, GflJEM AD TE 
MISI, COGNOSCES. CURA UT VIR SIS, ET COGITA, 
QUEM IN LOCUM SIS PROGRESSUS : ET VIDE, QUID 
JAM TIBI SIT NECESSE. CURA UT OMNIUM TIBI 
AUXILIA ADJUNGAS, ETIAM INF1MORUM. Gabinms 
deinde introductus, cum primo impudenter respondere ceepiiset, 
ad extremum nihil ex iis qtssp Galli insimulabant negavit. Ac 
mihi quidem, Quirites, cum ilia certifsima sunt visa argumenta 
atque indicia sceleris, tabelke, signa, manus, denique, uniuscu- 
j usque confefsio: turn multo ilia certiora, color, oculi, vuitus, 
taciturnitas; sic enim obstupuerant, sic terrain intuebantur, sic 
furtim nonnunquam inter se aspiciebant, ut non jam ab aliis in- 
dicari, sed indicare se ipsi viderentur- 

VI. Indiciis expositis atque editis, Quirkes, senatum con- 
sului de summa reipub. quid fieri placeret'; dicta* sunt a prin- 
cibus acerrimae ac fortifsimae sentential, quas senatus sine ulla 
varietate est consecutus. Et quoniam nondum est perscriptum 
S. C. ex memoria vobis, Quirites, quid senatus eensuerit, ex- 
ponam. Primum mihi gratia? verbis amplifsimis aguntuiyquod 
virtute, consilio, prudentia med vespub. periculis sit maximis 
llberata : deinde L, Flaccus et C. Pomtinus pr::ioie>, quod 
eorum opera forti ildelique usus else m, mcrito ac jure laudan- 
tur: atque etiam vno forti, collegai meo, C. Antonio laus im- 
pertitur, quod cos, qui ha jus conjurationis participcs fuilsent, 
a suis et a reipub. consilirs removiiset ; atque ita censuerunv, 
( !l ) ut P. Lentulus, .cum se pnttura . abdicalset, turn in custo- 



(10) Qui sim, ex eo quern ad te misi, cgg?iosces.) This letter of Lentulus 
to Catiline, is worded somewhat differently in Sallosfe, who gives it as fol- 
lows: Qui si//:, ex eo, quern ad te 7/iisi, cognosces. Fac cogites. in quant 'a 
calamitale sis ; et me/nineris, fe efscvirum; conjidtrcs, quid tiue rations 
postuleni; auxiliu/n pcias ab<mi/iibus, etiam ab hitiniis. " You will learn 
" who /am, by the mefsenger that brings you this letter. Ketiect on the 
" dangerous situation in which you are, and acquit yourself like a man. 
"Weigh well what your present circumstances require, and reject none 
51 who offer their assistance, not even the lowest." 

(U.) Ut P. Lentulus, tfflnse prtelUr .'*! The reader mav per- 

haps wonder how Lentulus came to b t this time, as he was now 

considerably in years. But this woik fase, when he is informed, 

that this was the second pastorship of . Now, as bv the Corne- 

ian Jaw, no one was capable of enjoying same m:i second 



171 

infatu by the sense of his guilt, he gave a remark- 

able prorf of the great force of conscience: for not only his 
usual parts and eloquence, but his impudence loo, in which he 
outdid all men, quite failed him; so that lie confefsed his crime, 
to the surprife of the whole aisembly. Then Vulturcius desired 
that the letter to Catiline, which Leutulus had sent by him, 
might be opened ; where Lentulus again, though greatly dis- 
ordered, acknowledged his hand and seal. It was written with- 
out any name, but to this effect: " You will know who I am, 
' e from him whom I have sent to you. Take care to show 
Ci yourself a man, and recollect in what situation you are, and 
" consider what is now necefsary for you. Be sure to make 
" use of the afsistance of all, even of the lowest/' Gabinius^ 
was then introduced, and behaved impudently for a while; but \ 
at last denied nothing of what the ambafsadors charged him \ 
with. And indeed, Romans, though their letters, seals, hands, 
and lastly their several voluntary confefsions, were strong and 
convincing evidences of their guilt ; yet had I still clearer proofs 
of it from their looks, change of colour, countenances, and 
silence. For such was their amazement, such their downcast 
looks, such their stolen glances one at another, that they seemed 
not so much convicted by the information of others, as detected 
by the consciousnefs of their own guilt. 

Sect. VI. The proofs being thus .laid open and cleared, I 
consulted the senate upon the measures proper to be taken for 
the public safety. The most severe and rigorous resolutions 
were proposed by the leading men, to which the senate agreed 
without the least opposition. And as the decree is not yet 
put into writing, I shall as far as my memory serves, give you 
an account of the whole proceeding. /First of all, public thanks 
were decreed to me in the amplest manner, for having, by my 
courage, counsel, and foresight, delivered the republic from 
the greatest dangers: then the pra?tors, L. Flaccus and C. Pom- 
tinus, were likewise thanked for their vigorous and punctual 
execution of my orders. My colleague, the brave Antonius, 
was praised for having removed from his own and the coun- 
sels of the republic, all those who were conce> the con- 
spiracy. They then came to a resolution, that P.*JS alus, after 



time, till after an interval of ten years, it is highly j that his first 

praetorship happened when L. Lieinius Lucullus and C. Aurelius Cotta 
were consuls, We are still the more confirmed ii ocause after the 

usual interval of two years, we find him advanced onsulship, jointly 

with Cn. Aufidius Orestes. During the censor? ^cllius and Lentu- 

lus, who Were remarkable for their severity in rcise of that office, 

this P. Lentulus, of whom we speak, though ; ' me a man of consu- 

lar dignity, was expelled the senate for the y of his life. When, 

the legal term of his degradation was eXpir er to recover the sena- 

torial! dignity, he was obliged to put in , praetor a second time ; 

during which praetorship, he was put to • this conspiracy. 

M2 



172 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES 

diam traderetur: itemque uti C. Cethegus, L. Staitil , P: Ga- 
binius, qui omnes pr&sentes erant, in custodiam uaderentur:- 
atque idem hoc decretum est in L. Cafsium, qui sibi. procura- 
tionem incendendae urbis depoposcerat : in M. Caeparium, cui 
ad solicitandos pastores Apuliani else attributam erat indicatum: 
in P. Furium, qui est ex his coloniis quas Fesulas L.-Sylla de- 
duxit: in Q. Magium Chilonem, qui una cum hocFurio semper 
erat in hac Allobrogum sohcitatione versatus: in P. Umbrenmii; 
libertinum hominem, a. quo primum Gallos ad Gabinium per- 
ductos efse coiistabat. Atque ea lenitate senatus est usus, Qui- 
rites, ut ex tanta conjuratione, tantaque vi ac multitudine do- 
mesticorum hostium novem hominum perditifsimorum poena, 
republ. conservata,reliqnorum mentes sanari pofse arbitraretur. 
Atque etiam ( Iz ) suppiicatio diis immortalibus pro singular* 
eonim> nierito, meo nomine decreta est, Quirites: Quod mihi. 
primum post banc utbem conditam togato contigit : et his de- 
creta verbis est, QUOD URBEM INCENDIIS, CMDE CIVES, 
IT ALIAM BELLO LIBERASSEM. Quae suppiicatio si cum 
caiteris conferatur, Quirites, hoc interest (•?*) quod caeterae bene 
gesta, heec una conservata repub. constituta est. Atque illud, 
quod faciendum primum fuit, factum atque transactum est ; nam 
P. Lentulus quanquam patefactus indiciis,etconfefsionibussuis, 
judicio senatCis, non modo prsetoris jus, verum etiam civis ami- 
serat \> tanaeri magistratu se abdicavit : ut ( ,4 ) quae religio C.Mario, 
clarifsimo viro> nou fuerat, quo minus C. Glauciam, de quo 
nihil nominatim erat decretum, praetorem occideret, ea. nos re- 
ligione, in private P.. Lentalo punieudo liberaremur. 

VII,. Nunc, quoniam, Quirites, sceleratifsimi periculosifsimique 
belli nefarios duces captos jam, et comprehensos tenetis; existi- 

(12) Suppiicatio.] The suppiicatio was a solemn procefsion to the temples 
©f the gods, to return thanks for any victory. Alter obtaining any such 
remarkable advantage, the general commonly gave the senate an account 
of the exploit by letters- wreathed about with laurel ; in which, after the 
account of his succefs, he desired the favour of a supplication, or public 
thanksgiv'- | This being granted for a set number of days, the senate 
went ii) i •-.■. n maimer to the chief temples, and afsisted at the sacrifices 
proper to the occasion ;. holding a feast in the temples to the honour of the 
respect :ies. In" the mean time the whole body of the commonalty 

kept ho, and frequented the religious afsemblies, giving thanks for 

the late s. imploring a long continuance of the divine favour 

and afsista . ' 

(13) Quod l I cue gestd, hct'C una conservata 7-epnblica constituta est.~\ 

The meaning is, that thanksgivings had been decreed to others, for their 
good fortune a in war ; but to Cicero, for preserving the com- 

monwealth iron. v his diligence defeating the designs of its ene- 

mies without dra d. Cotta, a man of distinguished abilities, 

and eminent for thu i 'ces he had done his country, proposed this 

thanksgiving, to wh, - f e agreed without one difsenting voice. 

(14) ' Qua- religio.'] . v 'h, the author of the Dauuhin edition of 

Cicero's select orations^ < Terent explication of this paisage, from 

o 



CICERo's ORATIONS. . 173 

Iraving abdicated the praetorship, should be committed to safe 
custody; that C. Cethegus, L. Statilius, P. Gabinius, all.three 
then present, should likewise remain in confinement; and that 
the same sentence should be extended to L. Cafsius,, who had 
offered himself to the task of firing the city ; to M. Ceparius, 
to whom, as appeared, Apulia had been assigned for raising the 
shepherds; to P. Furius, who belonged to the colonies settled 
by Sylla at Fesulai ; to *Q. Magius Chilo, who had always 
seconded this Furius, in his application to the deputies of the 
Allobroo-ians ; and to P. Umbrenus, the son of a freed man, who 
was proved to have first introduced the »Gauls to Gabinius. 
The senate chose to proceed with this lenity, Romans, from a 
persuasion that though the conspiracy was indeed formidable, 
and the ftrength and number of our domeltic enemies very great ; 
yet by the punishment of nine of the most desperate, they 
should be able :to preserve the state, and reclaim all the rest. 
At the same time a public thanksgiving was decreed in my 
name to the immortal gods, for their fignal *care of the com- 
monwealth; the first, Romans, since the buiidingpf Rome, that 
was ever decreed to any man in the g'own. It was conceived 
in these words: " Because I had preserved the city from aeon- 
Cl flagration, the citizens from a mafsaere, and Italy from a 
" war." A thanksgiving, my countrymen, -which if compared 
with others of the same kind, will be found to differ from them 
in this; that all others were appointed for some particular 
services to the republic, this alone for saving it. What required 
cur first care was first-executed and despatched* For -P: Len- 
tulus, though in consequence of. the evidence brought against 
him, and his own confefsion, the senate had adjudged him to 
have forfeited not only the praetorship, but the privileges of a 
Roman citizen, divested himself of his magistracy; that the 
^consideration of a public character, which yet had no weight 
with the illustrious C. Marius, w r hen he put to death the praetor 
C. Glaucia, against whom nothing had been*exprefsly decreed, 
might not occasion any scruple to. us,, in punishing P. Lentulus ? 
now reduced to the condition of a private man. 

Sect. VII. And now, Romans, as .the detestable leaders of this 
impious and unnatural rebellion are seized, and in custody, you 

that which I have chosen to follow in the translation. I shall here tran- 
scribe what he says on this subject, that the reader, .by comparing both, 
may be the better able to judge which ought to have trje preference. 
Commcndat suum ill u& /actum comparatione illius quod a Mario factum est.; 
nam nihil moratus ^est ille, quo minus Glauciam interficeret, qui Saturninum, 
tribunum plebis contra rempublicam molientcm sequutus fucraii Nulla 
auteni religione tenebatur sic dgere; at ipse Cicero religione obstringebatnr.; 
quia decretwn non solum fuit d senatu, ut viderent consules, ?ie quid respublica 
delrimenti caperet, verum etiam, ut Lentulum in custodiam traderent. At 
Marias tantum jufsus est a senatu rempublicam conservare, nequeei quicquan ; i 
fde Glaucia denumdatum f tier at. 

Ms 



174 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

mare dcbetis, omnes Catiiinre copias, omnes spes, atque opes, 
his depulsis urbis periculis, concidifse. Quern quidemego cum 
ex urbe pellebam hoc providebam ammo. Quirites, remoto 
Catilina, nee mihiefse P. Lentulisomnum, nee, L. Cafsii adipem, 
nee C. Cethegi furiosam temeritatem pertimescendam. Hie erat 
unus timendus ex his omnibus, sed tamdiu, dum moenibus urbis 
continebatur ; omnia norat; omnium aditus tewebat : appellare, 
tentare, solicitare poterat, audebat: erat ei consilium adfacinus 
aptum: consilio autem neque lingua, neque manus deerat; jam 
ad caeteras res conficiendas certos homines dclectos ac descriptos 
habebat: neque vero cum aliquid mandaverat, confectum 
putabat: nihil erat, quod non ipse obiret, occurreret, vigilaret, 
laboraret: frigus, • sitim, famem ferre poterat. Hunc ego 
hominem tarn acrem, tarn paratum, tarn audacem, tarn calliduni, 
tarn in scelere vigilantem, tarn in perditis rebus diligcntem, nisi 
ex domesticis insidiis in castrense latrocinium compulifsem 
(dicam id, quod sentio, Quirites) non facile banc tantani molem 
mali a cervicibus vestris depulifsem ; non illc vobis Saturnalia 
constituifset, neque tanto ante exitimn, ac fati diem reipubl. 
denuntiafset ; neque commisifset, nt signum, ut liters sua', 
testes denique manifesti sceleris deprehenderentur ; quae nunc, 
illo absente, sic gesta sunt, ut nullum in privata domo furtum 
imquam sit tam palam inventurn, (main fee tanta in rempub. 
conjuratio manifesto inventa atque deprehensa est Quod si 
Catilina in urbe ad banc diem remansifsct: quanquam quoad 
fuit, omnibus ejus consiliis occurri at(]ue obstiti, tamen, ut 
ievifsime dicam, dimicandum nobis cum illo fuifsct: neque 
nos unquam, dum ille in urbe hostis fuifsct, tantis periculis 
rempublicam tanta pace, tamo otio, tanto silentio libcrafscmus. 

VIII. Quanquam hare omnia, Quirites, ita sunt a me admmi>- 
trata, ut deorum immortalium nutn atqiie consilio et gesta et 
provisa efsc vidcantur ; id(]ue cirth conjectma eonsequi poisiimus, 
quod vix videtur humani consilii tantarum rcrum gubematio 
potuiise; turn vero ita prfcse'ntes hi.> t<mpori!)u> openi et 
auxiliuni nobis tulerunt, ut eos pone bculis videre poison 
Nam ut ilia omittam, visas nocturno tempore ad 01 
ardoremque cam, ut fulminum jactas, ut terra: nioti; - ,ue, 

qure tain multa, nobis consulibus, facta sunt, v use nunc 

fiunt, canere dii immortales viderentur: hoc Corte, I 
quod sum clicturus, neque pnUiTinittemlum, neque relin- 
quendum est! Nlim profecto menu ttia tenetis, Cotta et 
Torquato COoS. comnlures in capitolio tunos de ca j lo 
percuikis, cum et simulacra deorum immoitajium depulsa sum, 



n.. 

v justly conclude, that Catiline's whole strength, power, and 
hopes are broken, and the dangers that threatened the city dis- 
pelled. For when I was driving him out of the city, Romans, 
I clearly foresaw, that if he was once removed, there would be 
nothing to apprehend from the'drowsinci's of Lentulus, the fat 
of Cafsius, or the rashnels of Cethegus. He was the alone for- 
midable person of the whole number, yet no longer so than 
while he remained within the walls of the city. He knew 
everything; he had accefs in all places : he wanted neither 
abilities nor boldnefs to addrefs, to tempt, to solicit. He had 
a head to contrive, a tongue to explain, and a hand to execute 
any undertaking. He had select and proper agents to be em- 
ployed in every particular enter prize ; and never took a thing 
to be done because he had ordered it, but always pursued, 
urged, attended, and saw it done himself ; declining neither 
hunger, cold, nor thirst. Had I not driven this map, so keen, 
so resolute, so daring, so crafty, so alert in mischief, so active 
in desperate designs, from his secret plots within the city, into 
open rebellion in the fields, I could never so easily, to speak 
my real thoughts, Romans, have delivered the republic from 
its dangers. He would not have fixed upon the feast of Saturn, 
nor nanted the fatal day for our destruction so long before- 
hand, nor suffered his hand and seal to be brought against him, 
as manifest proofs of his guilt. /Yet all this has been so ma- 
naged in his absence, that no theft in any private house 
.was ever more clearly detected than this whole conspiracy. 
But if Catiline had remained in this city till this day ; though 
to the utmost I would have obstructed and opposed all his de- 
signs ; yet, to say the least, avc must have come at last to open 
force ; nor would we have found it pofsible, while that traitor 
was in the city, to have delivered the commonwealth from 
imch threatening dangers, with so much ease, quiet, and tran- 
quillity;. 

Sect. VHI. Yet all these transactions, Romans, have been 
so managed by me, as if the whole was the pure effect of a 
divine influence and foresight. This we may conjecture, 
not only from the events themselves being above the reach of 
human counsel, but because the gods have so remarkably in- 
terposed in them as to show themselves almost visibly. For 
not to mention the nightly streams of light from the western 
sky, the blazing of the heavens, the thunders, the earthquakes, 
with the many other prodigies which have happened in my con- 
sulship, that seem like the voice of the gods, predicting these, 
events; surely, Romans, what I am now about to say, ought nei- 
ther to be omitted, nor pais without noticed For cjoubtfefs you 
must remember, that under the consulship of Cotta and Torqua- 
tus, several turrets of the capitol were struck down with lightning : 
that the images of the immortal gods were likewise overthrown, 

% M 4 



Jf0 M. T- CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

<et statuae vcterum hominum dejectae, et legum aera liquefacta, 
Tactus est etiam ille qui hanc urbem condidit, Romulus; queni 
inaUratum in capitolio parvem atque lactantem, uberibus 
Jupinis inlnantem fuifse meministis. Quo quidem tempore, 
cum ('^l^aruspicesex tota Etruria convevrifsent,caedes atque in- 
eendia, et legum interitum, et bellum chile ac domesticum, et 
■fcotius urbis atque imperii occasum appropinquare dixerunt, nisi 
dii immortales omni ratione placati suo numine prope fata ipsa 
flexilsent. Itaque ex illorum responsis tunc et ludi decern per 
diesfacti sunt, neque res ulla quae adplacandumdeospertirieret, 
prsetermifsa est; lidemque jufserunt simulacrum Jovis facere 
majus, et in excelso colloeare, et contra atque ante fuerat, ad 
orientem convertere; ac se sperare dixemnt, si illud signum 
quod videfis, soljs ortum et forum curiamque conspiceret, fore, 
ut ea consilia quae clam efsent inita contra salutem urbis atque 
Imperii, illustrarentur, ut a S. P. Q. R. perspici pofsent. Atque 
illud ita CoUocandum consules illi statuerunt: sed tanta fuit 
operi^ tarditas, ut neque a superioribus consulibus, neque a 
nobis ante hodiernum diem collocaretur. 

IX. Hie quis potest efse, Quiriies, tarn aversus a vero, tarn 
prapceps, tarn mente captus, qui neget haec omnia qua? videmus, 
praecipueque hanc urbem, deorum immortalium nutu, atque 
potestate administrari ? Etenim cum elset ita responsum, Cicdes, 
incendia, interitumque reipublicae comparari, et ea a perditis 
civibus; quag turn propter magnitudjnem scelerum nonnullis 
fncredibilia yidebantur, ea non modb cogitata a. nefariis civi- 
bus, verum etiam suscepta efse sensistis. Illud vero nonne ita 
praesens est, ut nutu Jovis Gptimi Maximi factum efse videatur, 
ut, eiim hodierrio (Jie mane per forum meo jufsu et conjurati, 
set eoruni indices in aedem Concordat ducerentur, eo ipso tem- 
pore signum statueretur .? quo collocate, atque ad vos senat uni- 
que converso, omnia et senatus, et vos, quae erant contra salu- 
tem omnium cogitata, illustrata, et patefacta vidistis. Quo etiam 
rpajore sunt isti odio suppl'icioque digni, qui rion solum ve^tris 
domiciliis atque tectis, sed etiam deorum templis atque Mil- 
bris sunt funestbs ■ ap nefarios ignes ihferre conati : quibus ega 
si me restitifse dicam, nimium mihi sunning et non sim fercn- 
dus: ijle, ille Jupiter restitit ; ille capitoiium, ille hece tcnrpla, 
ille hanc urbem, ille vos omnes salvos efsp voluit. Diis olio 



(15) Haruspices ex tot a Etruria, ~\ The art of soothsaying, and predicting 
future events, from inspecting the entrails of beasts, was held in particular 
honour among the Tuscans,' and -cultivated with great care ; being; iirst 
Invented by r I ages, who was of that -naticm. We read in the Roman history \ 
that at first only the natives <of Tuscany exercised this office at Rome: but 
afterwards the senate made an order,, that twelve of the sons of the princi- 
pal nobility 'should be sent into that country, to be instructed in the rite: 
end ceremonies of their religion, of which this secret was a chief part. 



5 ORATIONS. 1T7 

the statues of am i eat lie >laced, and the brazen tables of 

the laws melted "tfbwn; tl i Romulus, the founder of this 

city, escaped not unhurt; whose gilt statue, representing him 
as an infant sucking a wolf, you may remember to have seen in 
the capitol. At that time the soothfayers, being called together 
from all Etruria, declared that fire, slaughter, the overthrow of 
the laws, civil war, and the ruin of fe^e city and empire were por- 
tended, unlcfs the gods, appeased by all sorts of means, could be 
prevailed with to interpose, and bend in some measure the desti- 
nies themselves. In consequence of this answer, solemn games 
were celebrated for ten days; nor was any method of pacifying 
the gods omitted. * The same soothsayers likewise ordered- a 
larger statue of Jupiter to be made, and placed on high, in a po- 
sition contrary to that of the former image, with its face turned 
towards the east:- 'intimating, that if his statue, which you now 
behold, looked towards the 1 rising sun, the forum, and the senate- 
house ; then all secret machinations against the city and empire 
would be detected so evidently, as to be clearly seen by the se- 
nate and people of Rome. Accordingly the consuls of that year 
ordered the statue to be placed in the manner directed : but from 
the slow progrefs of the work, neither they, nor their suceefsors, 
nor I myself, could get it finished till that very day. 

Sect. IX. Can any man, after this, be such an enemy to truth, 
so rash, so mad, as to deny, that all things which we see, and 
above all, that this city is governed by the power and providence 
of the gods? For "when the soothsayers, declared, that mafsacres, 
conflagrations, and the entire ruin of the state were then de- 
vising ; crimes, the enormity of whose guilt rendered the pre- 
diction to some incredible: yet are you now sensible, that all 
this lias been, by wicked citizens, not only devised, but even at- 
tempted. Can it then be imputed to any thing but the imme- 
diate interposition of the great Jupiter, that this morning, while 
the conspirators and witnefses were by my order carried through 
the forum to' the temple of Concord, in that very moment me 
statue was fixed in its place ? and being fixed, and turned to 
look upon you and the senate, both you and the senate saw all 
the treasonable designs against the public safety, clearly detected 
and exposed; Spf he conspirators, therefore, justly merit the 
greater punishment and detestation, for endeavouring to involve 
in impious flames, net only your houses and habitations, but 
the dwellings and temples of the gods themselves; nor can I, 
without intolerable vanity and presumption, lay claim to the 
merit of having defeated their attempts. It was he, it was Ju- 
piter himself who opposed them: to him the capitol, to him the 
temples, to him the city, to him are you all indebted for your 
preservation. It was from the immortal gods, Romans, that I 
derived my resolution and foresight ; anol by their providence, 



It! M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

imntortulibus dncibus banc mentem, Quirites, voluntatemque 
suscepi, atque ad ba^c tanta indicia prevent Jam vero ilia 
Allobrogum solicitatio, sic a Lentulo ca?terisqueMomesticis hos- 
tibus, ( l6 ) tanta res, tam dementer credita et ignotis et barbaris, 
coinniii'sa-'que litene nunquain efsent profecto, nisi a diis immor- 
talibus huic tantfie audacirje consilium eiset ereptnm, Quid vero ? 
ut bomines Galli ex civitate male pacata, quce gens una restat 
qua? populo Rom. bellum facere et poise, et non nolle videatur, 
spem imperii, et rerum amplifsimarum ultro sibi a patriciis ho- 
minibus oblatam negligerent, vesiramque salutem suas opibus 
antcponerent: id nonne divinitus factum efse putatis? pra?sertim 
€]ui nos non pugnando, sed tacendo superare potuerunt. 

X, Quamobrem, Quirites, quoniam ad omnia pulvinaria sup- 
plicatio decreta e^t, celebratote illos dies cum conjugibus ac li- 
heris vestris. Nam multi sa^pe honores diis immortalibus justi 
Iiabiti sunt ac debiti, sed prol'ecto justiores nunquam. Erepti 
enim cstis ex crudelifsimo ac miserrimo interitu, et erepti sine 
caede, sine sanguine, sine exercitu, sine dimicatione: togati ma 
uno togato cluce et imperatore vicistis. Etenim recordamini, 
Quirites, omnes civiles dilsensiones, neque solum cas quas audis- 
tls, sed et lias, quas vosmet ipsi meministis et vidistis. L. Svlla P. 
( x 7) Sulpicium opprefsit; ex iirbe ejecit C. Marium custodem bu- 
jus nrbis; nmltosque fortes viros partim ejecit ex civitate, partim 
interemit; Cn. Octavius Cos. armis ex urbe collegam suum ex- 
pulit: omnis bic locus aeervis corporum et pivium sanguine re- 
clnndavit. Superavit postca China cum Mario, turn vero Claris- 
skrnis viris interfeetis, ( ,8 ) lumina civitatis exstincta sunt. Ultus 



(16) Tanta res tam dementer.'] There could not be a greater instance of 
infatuation, than to impart the design of so dangerous a conspiracy and 
■vi ar, to strangers and barbarians : for so our orator calls the Allobrogians ; 
it being usual with the Romans, to give the name of barbarians to all fo- 
reign nations, the Greeks only excepted. 

( I7 N ) Sulpicii'in opjire fsif— Muii urn eject t— Oct avi ::s coUegam suum expulit.'] 
Sxl'la, by a decree of the senate, having obtained the command in the war 
;v[\arr.st Mithridates; Maries, who envied him that honour, contrived, by 
means of Sulpieins/ a tribune of the people, to get this order of the senate 
reversed, and the command conferred upon himself. In the mean time 
SvUa, who was upon his march to the Mithridatic war, hearing of « 
parsed in the forum, returned with his legions to Rome; and having entered 
it after seme resistance, drove Maries and his accomplices to the met . 
or'<a\ in:?, themselves by a precipitate flight. This was the beginning of the 
first civil war, properly so called, which Koine had ever seen, and what 
bt>th the occasion and the example to all the rest that followed. The tri- 
bune Sulpieins was slain; and Marius so warmly pursued, that he • 
forced to plunge himself info the marshes of Minturnum. up to the chin in 
v/i'ter; in which condition he lay concealed for some time, till being dis- 
covered and dragged out, he was preserved by the compafsion of the inha- 
bitants, who, after refreshing him from the cold and hunger which he had 
-'.Tiered in his night, furnished him with p vefsel, and all necefsaries, to I 
1 himself into Africa. Cicero call- him here the guardian of the cit^ 
"tie which was bestowed upon him after the conclusion o\ the wrr with the 
Teutones and Cmibrk He was, in like maimer with Cicero, a ttire o. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. J 79 

that I was enabled to make such important discoveries. The 
attempt to engage the Allobrogians in the conspiracy, and the 
infatuation of Lentulus and his afsociates, in trusting affairs and 
letters of such moment to men barbarous and unknown to them, 
can never surely be accounted for, but by supposing the gods to 
hav/e confounded their understandings. And that the ambafsa- 
dors of the Gauls, a nation so disaffected, and the only one at 
present that seems both able and willing to make war upon the 
Roman people, should slight the hopes of empire and dominion, 
and the advantageous offers of men of patrician rank, and pre- 
fer your safety to their own interest, must needs be the effect of 
a divine interposition; especially when they might have gained 
their ends, not by fighting, but by holding their tongues. 

Sect. X. Wherefore, Romans, since a thanksgiving has been 
decreed at all the shrines of the gods, celebrate the safne reli- 
giously with your wives and children. Many are the proofs of 
gratitude you have justly paid to the gods on former occasions, 
but never surely were they more apparently due than at present. 
You have been snatched from a most cruel and deplorable fate; 
and that too without slaughter, without blood, without an army, 
without fighting. In the habit of citizens, and under me your 
only leader and conductor in the robe of peace, you have ob- 
tained the victory. Fordo but call to mind, Romans, all the 
civil difsensions in which we have been involved ; not those 
only you may have heard of, but those too within your own me- 
mory and knowledge. L. Sylla destroyed P. Sulpicius; drove 
Marius, the guardian of this empire, from Rome; and partly ba- 
nished, partly slaughtered, a great number of the most deserving 
citizens. Cn. Qctavius, when consul, expelled his colleage, by 
force of arms, from the city. The forum was filled with carcases r 
and flowed with the blood of the citizens. Cinna afterwards, 
in conjunction with Marius, prevailed: and then it was that 



pinnm, and is frequently commended by our orator in his speeches. 
Cn. Octavius was colleague in the consulship with Cornelius Cinna; which 
laft attempting to reverse all that Sylla had established, was driven out of 
the city by his colleague, with six of the tribunes, and deposed from the 
consulship. Upon this he gathered an army, and recalled Marius, who 
having joined his forces with him, entered Rome in a hostile manner, and, 
with the most horrible cruelty, put all Sylla^s friends to the sword, without 
regard to age, dignity, or former services. But Sylla soon after returning 
from the Mithridatic war, changed the face of affairs, re-established him- 
self in his former authority, and triumphed over all his enemies. 

(18) Lwnina cititatis extiricta su?it.~] Upon occasion of the Marian pro- 
scription, there fell, among many others of lefs note, the consul Cn. Octa- 
vius; the two brothers L. Ca?sar, and C. Caesar; P, Crafsus, and the ora- 
tor M. Antonius; whose head, as Cicero says, was fixed upon that rostra 
where he had so strenuously defended the republic when consul, and pre- 
served the heads of so many citizens ; lamenting, as it were ominously, the. 
mifery of that/ fate which happened afterwards to himself, from the grand- 



1-80 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

-est bujusvictoriae crudelitatem postea Sylla : rie dici quidem opus 
est, C 9 ) quanta diminutione civium, et quanta calamitate reipub. 
( i0 ) Difsensit M. Lepidus a clarifsimo et'ibrtifsimo viro Q. Catulo^ 
attulit (**) non tarn ipsius interitus reipub. luctum, quam caete- 
roruni. Atque illse difsensiones erant hujusmodi,- Quirites, qua? 
non id delendam,sedad comimitandam rempub. pertinerent; non 
illi null am efse rempub. sed in ea quee efset, ,se.efse principes; 
neque banc urbem conflagrare, sed se in hac urbe florere, volue- 
runt. Atque illae tamen omnes difsensiones, quarum nulla exi- 
tium reipub. quaesWit, ejusmodi fuerunt, ut non reconciliatione 
concordiqe, sed, internecione civium dijudicatae sint. In hoc au- 
tem uno post hominum memoriam maximo crudelifsirnoque bello 
t{ quale be Hum nulla unquam barbaria cum sua gente gefeit; quo 
in bello lex haec fuit a Lentulo, Catilina, Cafsio, Cetbego consti- 
tute, ut omnes qui salva urbe salvi efse pofsent, in bostium nu- 
inero ducerent/wr) ; ita megessi, Quirites, ut omnes salvi con- 
servaremini; et cum hostes vestri tantum civium superfuturuni 
putafsent, quantum infinitae caedi restitifset : tantum autem urbis, 
quantum flamina obire non potuifset : et urbem, .et cives inte- 
gros incolumesque servavi. 

XI. Quibus pro tantis rebus, Quirites, nullum ego a vobis pre- 
mium virtutis, nullum insyne honoris, nullum monumentum 



son of this very Antonius. Q. Catulus also, though lie had been Marius's 
■colleague in trie consulship, and his victory over "the Cimbri, was treated 
^vith the same cruelty • for when his friends were interceding for his life, 
Marius made them no other answer, but, He must die, he must die.; 
so that he was obliged to 'kill himself. 

(19) QuGjita diminutione cixbum.'] Sylla having subdued all who were in 
arms against him, indulged himself in a full revenge on his enemies ; m 
which., by. the detestable method o( proscription, of which he was the first 
author and inventor, he exercifed a more infamous cruelty than had ever 
been practised in cold blood, in that, or perhaps in any other city. The 
proscription was not confined to Rome, but carried through all the towns 
of Italy; where, betides the crime of party, which was pardoned to none, 
it was fatal to be pofsefsed of money, lands, or a pleasant seat ; all manner 
of licence being indulged to an insolent army, of carving to themselves 
what fortunes they pleased. There perished upon this occaiion ninety se- 
nators, fifteen of whom were consulars; and two thousand fix hundred 
Roman knights. We are told, that during the heat and fury of the pro- 
scription, Furfidius admonished him not to make a total havock of the Ro- 
man people, but to suffer some to remain alive, over whom he might rule. 

(20) Difsensit M. lepidus a Q. Catulo.~] After the death of Sylla, the old 
difsensions, that had been smothered awhile by the terror of his power, 
-burst out again into a llame between the two factions, supported severaliy 
by the two consuls, Q. Catulus and M. Lepidus, who were wholly opposite 
to each other in party and politics. Lepidus resolved at all adventures to 
rescind the acts of Sylla, and recal the exiled Marians. Catulus's father, 
fiie ablest statesman of his time, and the chief ifserter of the aristocraticai 
interest, had been condemned to die by Marius ; the son therefore, 
who inherited his virtues, as well as principles, and was confirmed in 
•flje-Bi by a resentment of that injury, vigorously opposed, and effectually 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. *Si 

the very lights of our country were extinguished by the slaughter 
of her most illustrious men. Sylla avenged this cruel victory ; 
with what mafsacre of the citizens, with what calamity to the 
state-, it is needlefs to relate. M. Lepidus- had- a difference with 
Q. Catulus, a man of the most distinguished reputation and 
merit. The ruin brought upon the- former was not so afflicting 
to the republic, as that of the rest who perished upon the same 
occasion. Yet all these difsensions, Romans, were of such a 
nature as tended only to a change in the government, not a 
total destruction of the state. It was not the aim of the persons- 
concerned to extinguish the commonwealth, but to be the lead- 
ing men in it ; they desired not to see Rome in flames, but to* 
rule in Rome. And yet all these civil differences, none of 
which tended to the overthrow of the state, were so obstinately- 
kept up, that they never ended in a reconciliation of the parties, 
but in a mafsacre of the citizens. But in this war, a war the' 
fiercest and most implacable ever known, and not to ba paral- 
leled in the history of the most barbarous nations ; a war in- 
which Lentulus, Catiline, Cafsius and Cethegus, laid it down as- 
a principle to consider all as enemies who had any interest in : 
the well-being of the state : I have conducted myself in such a- 
rnanner, Romans, as to preserve you all. f And though your 
enemies imagined that no more citizens -\vould remain than 
what escaped endlefs mafsacre; nor any more of Rome be left 
standing than was snatched from a devouring conflagration ; yet 
have I preserved both city and citizens from harm. 

Sect. XI. For all these important services, Romans, I desire 
no other reward of my zeal, no other mark of honour, no other 
monument of praise, but the perpetual remembrance of this 



disappointed all the designs of his colleague;, who finding himself unabie 
to gain his end without recurring to arms, retired to his government o£ 
Gaul, where he raised what forces he could, and returned at the head of a 
great army, pofsefsing himself of Etruria without opposition,, and marching 
in an hostile manner towards the city, to the demand of a second consul- 
ship. Catulus, in the mean time, upon the expiration of his office, was in- 
vested, with proconsular authority, and charged with the defence of the 
government; and Pompey also, by a decree of the senate, was joined with 
him in the same eommifsion ; who having united theb forces- before Lepi- 
dus could reach the city, came to an engagement with him near the Milvian 
bridge, within a mile or two from the walls, where they totally routed and 
dispersed his whole army. Lepidus himself escaped into Sardinia, where 
he soon after died of grief. 

(21) Non tarn ipsius interitii&.~\ It is worth while to observe what caution. 
and prudence the orator exprefses in this pafssage. He does not wholly 
deny that the death of Lepidus was calamitous to the state ; for this speech 
was addrefsed to the people, who considered Lepidus as one of the heads 
of the Marian party ; which, in tact, they were always disposed to favour,, 
regarding it as their own. He therefore allows the fall of this leader to be 
a misfortune ; yet not so much for his own sake, as on account of the many 
eminent patriots who perished oa the same occasion, 



JUS2 m. i. CICERuNIs QRATIONIS. 

laudis postulo, prseterquam hujus diet memoriam sempiternam. 
In aaimis ego vestris onines triuraphos meos, omnia orna- 
menta honoris, mqnumenta gloriae, laudis insignia, condi et 
coJlocari volo ; nihil me mutum potest delectare, nihil taciturn, 
nihil dcnique hujusmodi, quod etiam minus digniafsequi pofsint. 
Tvlemoiia vestra, Quirites, nostra? res alentur, sermonibus cres- 
cent, literarum monumentis inveterascent et corroborabuntur : 
( 22 ) eandemque diem intelligo, quam spero aeternam fore, et ad 
salutem urbis, et ad memoriam consulates mei propagatam : 
unoque tempore in hac republica duos cives extitiise, quorum 
alter fines vestri imperii, non terrse sed cceli regionibus termi- 
naret; alter ejusdem imperii domicilium sedemque servaret. 

XII. Sed quoniam earum rerum quas ego gefsi, non est eadem 
fortuna atque conditio, qua; illorum qui externa bella gesserunt: 
quod mihi vivendum sit cum iilis, quos vici ac subegi : isti hos- 
tes aut interfectos, aut opprefsos reiiquerunt : vest rum est, Qui- 
rites, si ceteris recta sua facta prosunt, nihil mea ne quando 
obsmt, providere; mentes enim liominum audacifsimorum scc- 
leratas ac nefariae ne vobis nocere pofsent, ego providi : ne mihi 
noceant, vestrum est providere. Quanquam, Quirites, mihi 
quidem ipsi nihil jam ab istis noceri potest ; magnum enim est 
in bonis presidium, quod mihi in perpetuum comparatum est : 
magna in republica dignitas, qua; me semper tacita defendet ; 
magna vis est conscientioe, quam qui negligent, cum me violare 
volent, se ipsi indicabunt. Est etiam in nobis is animus, Qui- 
rites, ut non modo nullius audacise cedamus, sed etiam omnes 
improbos ultro semper lacefsamus. Quod si onmis impetus do- 
mesticoruiii hostium depulsus a vobis sc in me unum converterit ; 
vobis erit providendum, Quirites, qua conditions pasthac 
efse vciitis, qui se pro salute vestra obtulerint invidiam, periculis- 
que omnibus. JNIihi quidem ipsi quid est quod jam ad vita' 
true turn pofsit acquiri, pra\sertim cum neqne in honore vestro, 
ncque in gloria virtutis quidquam vxleam aitius, (**) quo quidem 



(22) F.andemque diem iuiclligo.~\ Dies here s! anils for tempos; which 
meaning of the word we frequent!} meet with in hi.s treatise Dedix 

The v. hole sentence may be paraphrased thus: Intelligo, candem diem, id 

est, idem f cm pus propa^atum efse, et. ad sal idem urbis, t 

siflatys mei: quod quidem tempus spero aieruumfore. Itaquc qufl 

Lit. urbs, tamdiu recordabuntur homines, uno tempore duos in 

extit([se cites, SCc. By the two citizens, of whom lie here speaks, ii is 

vidus to every one, that he means himself and Porapey. lor while he w;i> 

employed at home, in crushing; a dangerous conspiracy, in saving tin - 

from a conflagration, and the citizens from slaughter; Pompey was do leis 

busied abroad, in exterminating the pirates, who had so long infested the 

Mediterranean sea, and delivering the republic from the terrors of the 

Mithridatie war. 

(23) Quo quidem jniui libejt asee/idere.~\ Cicero was at this time consul, 
\\Ijich was the highest magistracy in the commonwealth, ihe dictatorship! 
e\cepteu\ But this last office, which in early times hud oft been of singu- 



ciceRo's orations. 183 

iky It is in your breasts alone jthat I would have all my tri- 
umphs, all my titles of honour, all the monuments of my glory, 
all the trophies of my renown, recorded and preserved; Lifelefs 
statues, silent testimonies of fame ; in fine, whatever can be 
compafsed by men of inferior merit, has no charms for me. In 
your remembrance, Romans, shall my actions be cherished, from 
your praises shall they derive growth and nourishment, and in 
vour annals shall they ripen and be immortalized : nor will this. 
(lay, I flatter myself, ever, cease to be propagated, to the safety 
of the city, and the honour of my consulship : but it shall eter- 
nally remain upon record, that "there were two citizens living 
at the same time in the republic, the one of whom was termi- 
nating the extent of the empire by the bounds of the horizon 
itself, the other preserving" the seat and capital of that empire. , 

Sect. XII. ,But as the fortune and circumstances of my ac- 
tions are different from those of your generals abroad, in as much 
as I must live with those whom I have conquered and subdued, 
whereas they leave their enemies either dead or enthralled ; it 
is your paTt; Romans, to take care, that if the good actions of 
others are beneficial to them, mine prove not detrimental to me. 
I have baffled the wicked and bloody purposes formed against 
you by the most daring offenders ; it belongs to you to bafflle 
their attempts against me : though as to myself I have in reality - 
no cause to fear anything, since I shall be protected by tfye, 
guard of all honest men, whose friendship I have for ever se- 
cured ; by the dignity of the republic itself, which will never 
cease to be my silent defender ; and by the power of conscience 
which all those must needs violate who shall attempt to injure 
me. /Such too is my spirit, Romans, that I will never yield to 
the audaciousnefs of any, but even provoke and attack all the 
wicked and profligate : yet if all the rage of our domestic ene- 
mies, when repelled from the people, shall at last turn singly 
upon me, you will do well to consider, Romans, what effect this 
may afterwards have upon those who are bound to expose 
themselves to envy and danger for your safety. As to myself 
in particular, what have I farther to wish for in life, since both ■ 
with regard to the honours you confer, and the reputation Bow- 
ing from virtue, I have already reached the highest point of my 



lar service to the republic in cases Of difficulty and distrefs, was now grown 
odious and suspected, in the present state of its wealth and power, as dan- 
gerous to the public liberty ; and for that reason, except in the case of 
JSylla, whose dictatorship was the pure effect of force and terror, had been 
wholly disused and laid aside, for about one hundred and forty T years past 
Cicero therefore justly says, that he had reached the highest post of ho- 
nour in the state, seeing "the dictatorship was now become so dangerous 
and suspicious a magistracy, that no good citizen thought it lawful to 
aspire after it. 



184 M. t. CICERONIS ORATlON£S. 

mihi libeat ascendere ? Illud perficiam profecto, Quirites, ut ea: 
quae gefsi in consulatu, privatus tuear, atque ornem : ut, siqtia 
est invidia in conservanda republica, suscepta, laedat invidos, 
mihi valeat ad gloriam. Denique ita me in republica tractabo, 
ut meminerim semper quae gefserim, curemque ut ea virtute, 
non casu gesta efse videantur. Vos, Quirites, quoniam jam nox 
est, veneramini ilium Jovem, custodem hujus urbis ac vestrum ; 
atque in vestra tecta discedite; etea, quanquam jam periculum 
est depulsum, tamen aeque ac priori nocte, custodiis vigiliisque 
defendite. Id ne vobis diutius faciendum sit, atque ut in per- 
petua pace efse pofsitis, providebo^ Quirites. 






ambition? This however, i exprefsly engage ioi, Remaps, 
always to support and defend in my private condition, what I 
have acted in my consulship ; that if any envy be stirred up 
against me for preserving the state, it may hurt the envious, 
but advance my glory, In short, J shall so behave in the re- 
public, as ever to be mindful of my past actions, and show that 
what I die) was not the effect of chance, but of virtue E>o you, 
Romans, since it is now night, repair to your several dwellings, 
and pray to Jupiter, the guardian of this city, and of your 
lives : and though the danger be now over, keep the same watch 
in your houses as before. I shall take care to put a speedy pe-r 
riod to the necefsity of these precautions, an4 to secure you for 
&e future in uninterrupted peace, 



rn 



OR ATI o vh; 



4. IN L. CATILINAM *. 



I.. "1 7TDEO,. P. C. in: me omnium vestrum ora atque ocnlos 
V efse converses: video vos non solum de vestro ac rei- 
pablicae, verum etiam r si id depulsum sit, de meo periculb else 
solicitos. Est mihi jucuudo. in malis, et grata in dolore, vestnt 
erga me voluntas: sed earn, per deos immortaies quaso, depo- 
nite ; atque obliti salutis me as, de-yobis ae de liberis vestris co- 
gitate. Milii quidem si haBC conditio consulates data est, ut 
omftes acerbitates, omncs dolores cruciatusque perferrem ; feram 
non solum fortiter, sed ctiam libenter, dummodo meis laborious 
Vobis populoque Romano dignitas salusque pariatur. Ego sum 



* Though the design of the conspiracy was in a great measure defeated, 
by the commitment of the most considerable of those concerned in it, vet 
as they had many secret favourers and well-wishers within the city, "the 
people were alarmed with the rumour of fresh plots, formed by the slaves 
and dependents of Lentulus and Cethegus, for the rescue of their mas: 
which obliged Cicero, to reinforce his guards; and for the prevention of 
all such attempts, to put an end to the whole affair, by bringing the ques- 
tion of their punishment, without farther delay, before the senate, which 
he accordingly summoned fur that purpose, 'the debate was of great de- 
licacy and importance; to decide- upon the lives of citi/t 
rank. Capital punishments were rare, and ever odious in Rome, w 
laws were of all others the least sanguinary; banishment, wit!) confiscal 
of goods, being the ordinary punishment for the greatest crimes. '!"!• 
nate indeed, as it has been said above, in cases of sudden and da 
Tumults, claimed th ©^prerogative of punishing the leaders with death, 
the authority of their own decrees. But this was looked upon as a str 
of power, and an infringement of the rights of the people, which nor 
could excuse, but the necefsity of tunes,. and the extremity of danger. For 
there was an old law of Porcius Laica, a tribune, which granted all crimi- 
nals capitally condemnod, an appeal to the people; and a later on 
(J. Gracchus, to prohibit the taking away the life c( any citizen, without 
a formal hearing, before the people: m> that some senators, who had con- 
curred in all the previous debates, withdrew themselves from 
their dislike of what tiiey expected to be tbei&ueof it, ai 
hand. in putting Roman citizens to death by a vote of the senate. Here 
then was ground enough for Cicero's enemies to act upon, if extreme me- 
thods were pursued: he himself was aware of it, anas the pu'wlic 
interest called for the severest punishment, Ms private inl 
yet he came resolved to sacrifice all regards for h : - 

sideration of the public safety. As soon therefore as he had mored the 
question, what was to be done with the conspirators- S U 
elect, being called upon, to speak I 



ORATION VII. 



4. AGAINST CATILINE. 



Sect. I. T Perceive, conscript fathers, that every look, that 
A every eye is fixed upon me. I see you solicitous 
not only for your own and your country's danger, but, was that 
repelled, for mine also. This proof of your affection is grateful 
to me in sorrow, and pleasing in distrefs: but by the immortal 
gods I conjure you ! 1 lay it all aside ; and without any regard 
to my safety, think only of yourselves and of your families. 
For should the condition of my consulship be such as to subject 
me to all manner of pains, hardships, and sufferings ; I will 
bear them not only resolutely, but cheerfully, if by my labours 
2 can secure your dignity and safety, with that of the people of 



then in custody, with the rest who should afterwards be taken, should alt 
be put to death. To this all who spoke after him readily afsented, till it 
came to Julius Caesar, then praetor elect, who in an elegant and elaborate 
Speech, treated that opinion, not as cruel, since death, he said, was not a. 
punishment, but relief to the miserable, and left no sense either of good or 
ill beyond it; but as new and illegal, and contrary to the constitution of 
the republic: and though heinousnefs of the crime would justify any seve- 
rity, yet the example was dangerous in a free state; and the salutary use 
of arbitrary power in good hands, had been the cause of fatal mischiefs 
when it fell into bad ; of which he produced several instances, both in other 
cities and their own ; and though no danger could be apprehended froni 
these times, or such a consul as Cicero, yet in other times, and under ano- 
ther consul, when the sword was once drawn by a decree of the senate, no 
man could promise what mischief it might not do before it was sheathed 
again : his opinion therefore was, that the estates of the conspirators shoukK 
be confiscated, and their persons closely confined in the strong towns of 
Italy; and that it should be criminal for any one to move the senate. or 
the people for any favour towards them. Thefe two contrary opinions 
being proposed, the next question was, which of them should take place ? 
Ciesar's had made a great imprefsion on the afsemblv, and staggered even 
Silanus, who began to excuse and mitigate the severity of his vote ; and 
Cicero's friends were going, forwardly into it, as likely to create the least 
trouble to Cicero himself, for whose future peace and safety they began to 
be solicitous : when Cicero observing the inclination of the house, and ri- 
sing up to put the question, made this his fourth speech on true subject of* 
the conspiracy ; in which he delivers his sentiments with all the skill both 
of the orator and statesman ; and while he seems to show a perfect neu- 
trality, and to give equal commendation to both the opinions, artfully la?, 
bours all the while to turn the scale in favour of Silanus's, which he "con- 
sidered as a necefsary example-&f severity in the present circumstRiH-r* of 



188 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIOTJES. 

Hie consul, P. C. cui non forum, in quo omnis aequitas contine- 
tur .; non campus, consularibus auspiciis consecratus ; non cu- 
ria, summum auxilium omnium gentium; non domus, commune 
perfugium; non lectus, ad quietem datus; non denique haec 
sedes honoris, sella curulis, un^uam vacua mortis periculo, at- 
que insidiis fiiit. Ego multa tacui, multa pertuli, multa con- 
cefsi, multa meo quodam dolore in vestro timore sanavi. Nunc 
si hunc exitum consulatus mei dii immortales efse volueruut, ut 
vos, P. C. populumque Romanum ex caxle misera, conjures li- 
berosque vestros, rirginesque vestales ex acerbifsima vexationc ; 
templa atque delubra, banc pulcberrimam patriam omnium nos- 
trum ex foedifsima flamma ; totam Italiam ex bello, et vastitate 
eriperem ; quaeeunque mihi uni proponetur fortuna, subeatur. 
Etenim si P. Lentulus suum nomen, inductus a vatibos, fatale 
ad perniciem reipublicae fore putavit ; cur ego non la-tor, meum 
consulatum ad salutem reipublicae prope fatalem exstitifse. 

II. Quare, P. C. consulite vobis, prospicite patria: ; conser- 
rate vos, conjuges, liberos, fortunasque vestras: populi Romani 
nomen salutemque defendite : (') mini parcere ac de me cogitare 
desinite. Nam primum debeo sperare, omnes deos, qui buic 
urbi president, pro eo mihi ac mereor, relaturos gratiam else ; 
deinde si quid obtigerit, ecqiio ammo paratoque moriar ; neque 
enim turpis mors forti viro potest accidere, neque immatura 
consular i, nee misera sapienti. Nee tamen ego sum ille ferreus, 
(pi fratris carifsimi atque amantitsimi prasentis mcerore non 
movear, hor unique omnium lacrvmis, a quibus me circumsesr 
sum videtis: necjue meam mentem non domuni ssepe revocat 
exanimata uxor, abjecta metu tilia, et parvulus filius, (*j quern 
mihi videtur amplecti respublica tanquam obsidem consulatus 
mei; neque ille, qui exspectans hujus exitum diei adstat in con- 
spec tu meo gener. Moveor his rebus omnibus, sed in earn par- 

(i) Mihi parcere, ac de me cogitare desimte."] The Romans very seldom 
condemned any free citizen to death. They were often allowed to go into 
banishment, which was reckoned a sort of" death, as it deprived tfiem or 
all their privileges. The consuls or dictators, and sometimes private men. 
*!e.v the ringleaders of a tumult: but it was rather winked at as a thin? nt- 
cefiary in some exigencies, than approved as lawful. Everv free citizen 
Lad the liberty of an appeal from the senate to the people. * Cicero verv 
weil knew, that ail the odium of putting the conspirators to death, would 
.certainly fall upon him, as he was consul, and the most active person in 
quelling the conspiracy. For this reason he avoids declaring himself openly 
for Sihuius's opinion; but at the same* thne desires them to deliver their 
opinions freely, without having any regard to what might befal him after- 
wards, tor every act of the senate, or people, was always ascribed to the 
person who summoned the afsembiy ; as he alone presided, and put the 
questions so that the odium of putting the conspirators to death, though 
voted by the senate, would as certainly fall upon Cicero, a> if he had done 
it without their advice. This really was the case, and he was afterv. 
h arched *" nr pafcinff this verv decree. 



Rome. Such, consbnpt fathers, has been the fortune 
consulship, that neither the forum, that centre of all e 
nor the field of Mars, consecrated by consular ujlispices; i 
senate-house, the principal refuge of all nations ; nor domestic 
walls, the common afylum of all men; nor the bed, destined to 
repose; nay, nor even this honourable seat, this chair of state, 
have been 'free from perils, and the snares of death./ Many 
things have I diisembled, many have I suffered, many have I 
yielded to, and many struggled with in silence, for your quiet. 
But if the immortal gods would grant that iisue to my consul- 
ship, of saving you, conscript fathers, and the people of Home, 
from a mafsacre; your wives, your children, and the vestal vir- 
gins, from the bitterest persecution ; the temples and altars of 
the gods, with this our fair cotuitry, from sacrilegious flames, 
and all Italy from war and desolation ; let what fate soever at- 
tend me, I will be content with it. For if P. Lentulus, upon 
the report of soothfayers, thought his name portended the ruin 
of the state ; why should not I rejoice that my consulship has 
been as it were reserved by fate for its preservation ? 

Sect. II. Wherefore, conscript fathers, think of your own 
safety ; turn your whole care upon the state ; secure yourselves, 
your wives, your children, your fortunes; guard the lives and 
dignity of the people of Rome; and cease your concern and 
anxiety for me. For first, I have reason to hope that all the gods, 
the protectors of this city, will reward me according to my de- 
serts., Then should any thing extraordinary happen, I am 
prepared to die with an even and constant mind. For death can 
never be dishonourable to the brave, nor premature to one who 
has reached the dignity of consul, nor afflicting to the wise. 
Not that I am so hardened against all the imprefsions of hu- 
manity, as to remain indifferent to the grief of a dear and af- 
fectionate brother here present, and the tears of all those by 
whom you see me surrounded. Nor can I forbear to own, that 
iin afflicted wife, a daughter dispirited with fear, an infant son, 
whom my country seems to embrace as the pledge of my con- 
sulship, and a son-in-law, whom I behold waiting with anxiety 



Cicero's letters to Atticus. He calls him here the pledge of his consulship 
probably for this reason, because such as had no children, were supposed 
to be lei's anxious for the public safety, than those who had. For where 
there were children, there was evidently a double tye upon the father to 
watch over the preservation of the state ; unless we suppose him divested 
of all sense of humanity, and without that principle of affection towards his 
offspring, which nature has been so careful to plaint, not only in man, but 
'even in brutes. Hence among the ancient Marseillians, no man was ad- 
vanced to the honours and dignities of the state, but such as were married, 
and had children. Cicero's little son therefore, who was so very dear to 
his father, was a kind of pledge in the hands of the commonwealth, and 
gave the strongest afsurance that the father would undertake nothing" but 
with an eye to the public advantage. 

N3 



M. T. CICERONIS ORATlONES. 



: salvi sint vobiscum emnes, etiam si vis aliqua me orj.- 

•it, potius quam ut et ilia, et nos una reipub. peste perea- 

^uare, P. C. incumbite ad reipub. sal litem: circumspieite 

procellas, quae impendent, ni*i providetis; non Tib. 

ius, qui iterum tribunus plebis fieri voluit: non C. Grac- 

qiii agrarios concitare conatus est: non L. Saturninus, qui 

milium oceidit, in discrimen aliquod, atque in vestne se- 

is judicium adducitur. Tenentur ii, qui ad urbis incen- 

dium, ad vestrum omnium cuedem, ad Catilinam accipiendum 

Romas restiter'unt: tenentur literse, signa, manus, denique uni- 

uscujusque confefsi'o; solicitantur Allobroges ; servitia excitan- 

tur: Catilinaarcefsitur; id est, initum consilium, ut, interfeetis 

omnibus, nemo ne ad deplorandum quidem reip. nomen, atque 

ad lamentandam tanti imperii calamitatem relinquatur. 

III. Hsec omnia indices detulerunt, rei confefsi Mint, vos mul- 
f is jam judiciis judieavistis; primum, quod niibi gratias egistis 
gingufcu'jbus verbis, et me virtute atque diligentia perditorum 
hominum patefactam else ccvnjurationem decrevistis: deindc, 
quod P. Lentulum, ut se abdicaret pravtura. coegistis: turn quod 
gum, et ca2teros, de quibus judicavistis, in custodiam dandos 
Ocnsuistis : maximeque, quod meo nomine supplicationem de- 
crevistis, qui honos togato habitus ante me est nemini : postremo, 
hesterno die pr-emia legatis Allobrogum, Titoque Vulturcio de- 
distis amplifsima; quae suut omnia eju>modi, ut ii, qui in custom 
diam nominatim dati sunt, sine ulla. dubitatione a vobis dumnati 
efse videuritur. Sed ego institui referre ad vus, P. C. tanquam 
integrum, et de facto, quid judicetis; et de puna, quid cense- 
atis; ilia pra:dicam, quas sunt consults. Ego magnum in re- 
publica versari lurorem, nova qua-darn misceri et concitara mala 
jampridein viclebam: sed banc tantam, tarn exitiosam haberi 
conjurationem a civibus nunquam putavi. Nunc quidquid i 
quocunque vestrrc merries inciinant atque - 

dum vobis ante noetem est. Quantum facmus ad nos delatum 
sit, videtis : liuic si paucos putatis aifines efse, vehemei 
ratis. Latins opinione dilVuninatum est hoc malum: manavii 
non solum per Italiam, verum etiam transcendit Alpes, et ob- 



(3) Staiuendum vobis ante noetem est .] There were two reason* that mad* 
it necefsairy for the senate to come to some resolution before night. First 
because it was to be feared that the fr '.ends and favourers oi the conspira- 
tors would raise some tumult during the night, and attempt a 
Secondly, because there was a necefsitv for diliniising the senate befor* 
flight. For we learn from Varro in Aulus Gellius, that no decree of tin 
senate was looked upon as valid, if it pafsed after sun-set, or before *u:i 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 191 

the ifsuc of this day, often recall mv thoughts homewards. 

All these objects aiiect me, yet in such a manner that I am 

chiefly concerned for their preservation and yours, and scruple 

not to expose myself to any hazard, rather than that they and 

v all of us should be involved in one general ruin. Wherefore, 

conscript fathers, apply yourselves wholly to the safety of the 

state, guard against the storms that threaten us on every side, 

and which it will require your utmost circumspection to avert. 

Jt is not a Tiberius Gracchus, caballing for a second tribimeship : 

nor a Caius Gracchus, stirring up the people in iavour of his 

Agrarian law; nor a Lucius Saturnintis, the murderer of Caius 

Meminius, who is now in judgment before you, and exposed to 

■the .severity of the law: but traitors, who remained at Rome to 

fire the city, to mafsacrc the senate, and to receive Catiline. Their 

letters, their seals, their hands; in short, -their several confessions 

,are in your custodv, and clearly convict them of soliciting the 

A liobrogians, spiriting up the slaves, and sending for Catiline. 

The scheme proposed was to put all without exception to the 

sword, that not a soul might remain to lament the fate of the 

.commonwealth, and the overthrow ©f so mighty an empire. 

Sect. III. All this has been proved by w itnefses, the crimi- 
nals themselves have confefsed, and vou have already condemned 
them by several previous acts. First, by returning thanks to 
me in the most honourable terms, and declaring tliat by my 
virtue and vigilance, a conspiracy of desperate men has been 
laid open. Next, by deposing Lcntulus from the pntorslap, 
and committing him, with the rest of the conspirators, to cu - 
tody. But chiefly, by decreeing a thanksgiving in my name, 
an Ijonour which was never before conferred upon any man in 
the gown. Lastly, you yesterday voted ample rewards to the 
deputies of the Allobrogians, and Titus Viilturcius k all 
proceedings are of sucli a nature as plainly to make it appear 
tliat you already, without scruple, condemn those whom you 
ha\e by name ordered into custody. But I have resolved, 
conscript fathers, to propose to you anew the question l>otu of 
die fact and punishment, having first premised what I think 
proper to say as consul. I have long observed a spirit of dis- 
order working in the state*, new projects devising, and perni- 
cious schemes *et on foot; but never could I imagine that a 
conspiracy so dreadful and destructive, had entered into the 
minds of citizens. Now whatever you i\o ? or whichever v, 0. 
your thoughts and voices skill incline, vou must come to a re- 
solution before night. You see the heinous nature of the crime 
laid before you; and if you think that but few are concerned 
in it, you are greatly mistaken. The mischief is Spread widei 
than most people imagine^ and has not only infected Italy, 
cruised the Alps, and imperceptibly creeping along. se : zed m 

M 



192 M. T. CICEHONIS ORAtlOfctS, 

scurc serpens multas jam provincial occupavit. t Id opprimi 
susteridaodo ac prolatando nullo pacto potest; quacunque ra* 
tione placet, celeriter vobis vindicandum «st~ 

IV. Video duas adhuc else sententias: unam D. Silani, qui 
Censet eos, qui haec dele re conati sunt, inorte efce multandos : 
(♦) alteram C. Catsaris, qui mortis pcenam removet, coeterorum 
suppliciorum omnes acerbitates amplectitur* Uterque et pro 
sua dignitate, et pro rerum magnitudine in sunima severitate 
versatur. Alter eos, qui rtos omnes, qui populum Homanura 
vit& privare conati sunt, qui delere imperium, qui populi lio- 
mani nomen extinguere, punctum temporis frui vita et hoc 
communi spirit u non putat oportere : atque hoc genus poena; 
saepe in ini prcbw cives in hac lepubl. efse usurpatum recordatur. 
Alter intelligit, mortem a diis immortalibus non else supplicii 
causa constitutam, sed aut necefsitatem naturae aut labor um ac 
miseriarum quietemefce; itaque earn sapientcs nunquam inviti, 
fortes etiam sacpe Jibenter oppetiverunt ; vinculct vero, et ea 

^ sempiterna, certe ad singularem pcenam nefarii sceleris invents 
sunt; itaque municipiis dispertin jubet. Habere videtur ista 
res iniquitatem, si imperare velis: dirhcultatcm, si rogare; de- 
cernatur tamen, si placet. Ego enim suscipiam, et, ut spero, 
teperiam, qui id, quod salutis omnium causa statueritis, non 
putet sua; dignitatis recusarcZ Adjungit gravem prrtiatn muni- 
cipibus, si quis eorum vincula ruperit: horribilcs custodias cir- 

V cundat, et digna scelere hominum perditorum sancit; ne quis 
eorum poenani, quos condemnat, aut per senatum, aut per po- 
pulum levarc pofsit: eripit etiam speigp' qutr sola Imminent in 
miseriis consolari solet; bona pra?tcm< publicari jubct; vituni 
soJam relinquit nefariis hominibus: qtiam si eripuifset, multas 
tino dolore animi ac corporis, et omnes scelerum jxenasadomis- 
set. Itaque ut aliqua in vita tbrmido improbis cfset posira, spud 
inferos cjusmodi qua'dam i!li antiqui supplicia impiis constituta 
efce voluerunt; quod videlicet inteUigt-bant, Ins rcmotis, non 
else mortem ipsam pertimescendam. 

V. Nurrc, P. C. ego mea video quid intcrsit ; si otitis sreuti 
scntentiam C. Casaris, quoniani lianc is in republic* viaui, ^ 
qua; popularis habetur, secutns est, fortatse minus criint, hoc 
auctore et cognitorc hujusce sententia , mihi populates impetus 



(4) Alteram C. Ciesaris.'] 1 1 is opinion was. as we have already seen, pet* 
pelual imprisonment in the tree towns of Italy. Phe speech hp made 
this occasion, or at least the substance of it, is extant In Sallitst. Tl<k 
with his former behaviour, made him be looked upon is a well-wisher td 
1 he conspiracy; so that the knights, who kept guard round tin 
home, threatened to kill him. aane came out of the house; and souk 
they would have done it, If Cicero had not protected him, and carried 
Mm home with* him. Casdf was so frightened at tl • catue 

abroad again, till he entered upon hit office c/ urstlor I hi t 



ClCERO's ORATION'S. 193 

provinces. You can never hope to suppress it by delay and ir- 
resolution. Whatever course you take, you must proceed with 
Vigour and expedition. 

Sect. IV. There are two opinions now before you ; the first, 
of IX Silanus, who thinks the projectors of so destructive a con- 
spiracy worthy of death.; the second, of C\ Cocsar, who, ex- 
cepting death, is for every other the most rigorous method of 
punishing. Each, agreeably to his dignity, ami the importance 
of the cause, is for treating them With the lust severity. The 
one thinks, that those who have attempt ed to deprive us and 
the Roman people of life, to aholish this empire, and extinguish 
the very name of Rome, ought not to enjoy a moment's life, or 
breathe this vital air: and hath showed withal, that this punish- 
ment has often been inflicted by this state on seditious citizens. 
The other maintains, that death was not designed by the immor- 
tal gods as a punishment, but either as a necelsarv law of our 
nature, or a cefsation of our toils and miseries ; so that the wise 
never suifer it unwillingly, the brave often seek it vohmrarilv : 
that bonds and imprisonment, especially it' perpetual, are con- 
trived for the punishment of detestable crimes : that therefore the 
criminals should be distributed among the municipal towns. In 
this proposal there seems to be some injustice, if you impose it 
upon die towns; or some difficulty, if you only desire it. Yet 
decree so, if you think lit ; I will endeavour, and I hope I shall 
be able to find those who will not think it unsuitable to their 
dignity, to comply with whatever you shall Judge necefsarv for 
the common safety. He adds a heavy penalty on the municipal 
towns, if any of the criminals should escape; he invests them 
with formidable guards: and, as the enormity of their guilt de- 
serves, 4'orbids, under severe penalties, all application to the 
senate or people for a mitigation of their punishment. He even 
deprives them of hope, the only comfort of unhappy mortals. 
He orders their estate* also to be confiscated, and leaves them 
Nothing but life; which if he had taken aWay, he would by one 
momentary pang have eased them of much anguish both of 
mind and body, and all tlic »u?}ering9 due to their crimes. For 
it was on this account that the ancients invented those infer- 
nal punishments of the dead; to keep the wicked under some 
awe in this life, who, without them, would have no mead of 
death itself. 

Sect. V. Now, coufceript fathers, 1 see how' much mv in* 
teret is concerned in the present debate;, If you follow the 
opinion- of C Ciesar, who has always pursued those measures 
in the state which savour most of popularity, 3f shall perhaps be 
lefs exposed to the/arrows of public hatred, when he is known lor 
Ibc author and ad> iser of this vote, i-u if vou lid] in with the 



194 M. T. cic£rok:s ouationes. 

pertimescendi : sin illam alteram sec uti eritis ; nescio an amplhis 
mi hi negotii contrahatur ; sed tamen meorum periculorum ra- 
tioncs utilitas reipublicae vincat, Habemus enim a C. Genre, 
sicut ipsius dignitas, et majorum ejus amplitude* postulabat, 
aentcutiaui, tanquam obsidcin perpetuae in rempublicam volun- 
tatis; intcllectum est quid intersit inter lenitatem (*) conciona- 
torum, et animum vere popularcm, saluti populi consulcntcm. 
{'). Video de istis, qui se populates haberi volunt, abefse non 
neuunem, ne de capitc videlicet civium Romanorum sententiam 
ferat; is et nudiustertius in custodiam civesRomanosCethegum 
et P. Lentulum dedit, et supplicationem mihi decrevit, et indi- 
ces hesterno die max inns pracmiis arlecit. Jam hoc nemini du- 
bium est, qui reo custocliam,qua?sitori gratulationem, indici 
premium decrevit, quid de tota re et causa judicarit. At vcro 
C. Casar intelligit, ( 7 ) legem Semproniam efse de civibus Ko- 
jnanis constitutain : qui autem reipub. sit hostis, eum civem efse 
nullo modo pofse ; deniquc ipsum latorem legis Scmproniiv, 
jufsu populi pcenas rein, dependilse; idem etiam ipsum Lentu- 
lum, iargitorem et prodigum non putat, cum de pernicie reip. 
«t exitio hujus urbis tarn acerbe tamque crudeliter cogitarit, ap- 
pellari poise popularcm. Itaque homo mitifsiinus atque lenii'si- 
mus non dubitat P. Lentulum acternis tenebris vincuiisque man- 
dare: ct sancit in posterum, ne quis hujus supplicio levando se 
jactarc, et in pernicie reipub. posthac popularis efse pofsit ; ad- 
jungit etiam publioationem bouorum, ut omnes animi cruciatus 
et corporis, etiam egestas ac mendicitas consequatur. 

VI. Quamobrem sive hoc statueritis, dederitis mihi (") comi- 
tem fid concionem populo Romano carton atque jucundum : sive 

(5) C&ncionatorum.'] This word, for the most part, implies some censure 
of the persons to whom it is applied; and so, doubtlefs, we arc to under- 
stand it here, lor he oppose* these declaimers to the tmly popular mind 
-that aims at nothing but the good of the public We may therefore very 
wejl suppose, tjiat he means his as a reproof to those turbulent speakers 
and factious tribunes, who emleavoured, by seditious harangues, to spirit 
up the people against the nobility and senate. 

(C) J'idco~a6i?jh> no/t ?ici)iincm.] We have no light from hutorV as to 
who the particular person here mentioned was. It appears only t'hat he 
was some senator, who had hitherto attended the meetings of that bodv 
and concurred in all their previous votes; but chose to absent himself this 
day, with a view ot acquiring the character of popularity. Cicero here 
justly derides the folly of such a conduct, since, if there was anv thing ex- 
ceptionable in condemning the conspirators, he had arreadv incurred that 
£iiilt, by consenting to all the previous decrees made against them, which 
considered them as traitors to their country, and therefore worthy of the 
severest punishment. 

' (7) Legem Scttpron'amJj This law was proposed bv C Sempronius 
Gracchus, and had its name from the person who proposed it, as most 
*ther laws had. It decreed, that no Roman citizen should be condemned 
to death by any judge, or even by tire senate, but only bv the afseinblv of 
the peoble; and frequently this sentence of death was allowed to be ex- 
changed for banishment, which the old Romans thought a suftcient punish- 
ment for any crime, how great soever. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 195 

motion of D. Silanus, I know not what difficulties it may bring 
me under. However, let the service of the commonwealth 
supercede all considciationsof my danger. C'a.*sar, agreeably to 
his own dignity, and the merits of his illustrious ancestors, has by 
this proposal given us a perpetual pledge of his affection to the 
state, and showed the difference between the affected lenity of 
busy declaimers, and a mind truly popular, which seeks nothing 
but the real good of tbe people. I observe, that one of those 
who affects the character of popularity, has absented himself 
from this day's debate', that he may not give a vote upon the 
life of a Roman citizen. Yet, but tlie other day, he concurred 
in sending the criminals to prison, voted me a thanksgiving, and 
yesterdav decreed ample rewards to the informers. Now, no 
one can, doubt' \\ hat his sentiments are on the merits of the 
cause, who votes imprisonment to the accused, thanks to the dis- 
coverer of the conspiracy, and rewards to tbe informers. But 
C. Caesar urges the Sempronian law, forbidding to put Roman 
citizens to death. Yet here it ought to be remembered, that 
those who are adjudged enemies to the state, can no longer be 
considered as citizens; and that the author of that law himself 
suiiered death by the order of the people. Neither does Cresur 
think that the profuse and prodigal Lentulus, who has conceited 
so many cruel and Bloody schemes for the destruction of the 
Roman people, and the ruin of the city, can be called a popu- 
lar man. Accordingly this mild ami merciful senator makes no 
scruple of condemning P. Lentulus to perpetual bonds and im- 
prisonment; and provides that no one shall henceforward have 
it in his power to boast of having procured a mitigation of this 
punishment, or made himself popular by a step so destructive 
to the quiet of his fellow-citizens. He likewise adds the con- 
fiscation of their goods, that want and beggary may attend every 
torment of mind and body. 

Sect. VI. If therefore you decree according to this opinion, 
you will give me a partner and companion to the afseniblv, tvhq 
is dear and agreeable to the Roman people. Or, if you prefer. 



(S) Comitem ad concionem tnpitlo Romano carum atquc jucundum.'] After 
the senate had decreed any thing extraordinary, it was usual for the person 
who proposed the decree, or him who had the" chief hand in promoting it, 
to give an account of the affair to the people" from the rostra, with a de- 
fence of the senate's conduct. This was something more than matter of 
mere compliment, since the people could reverse any decree of the' senate. 
Cicero therefore tells them, that if Cx*aVs opinion was followed, it would 
be of great service to him, in getting such a person as Cresarto appear 
with him in the afsembly of the prople : for C«esar, even at this time, was 
very popular; and was, by his largefses, laying a foundation for* that 
freight of power, to which he afterwards raised himself. 



19o NT. T. CTCEHONIS ORAttOKES. 

ilium Silani sententiam sequi malueritis; facile mc, atque vos a 
crudelitatis vitupcralione defenders: atque obtinebo, cam multo 
Jeviorem fuifse. Quanquam, P. C. qua; potest else In tanti sce- 
leris immanitate puniend£ crudelitas? Kgo enim de meo sensu 
jodico. Nam ita mihi salva rep. vobiscum perfrui lkeat, ut ego, 
! qnod in hac causa venementior sum, non atrocitate animi mo- 
veor (quis enim est me mitiorr) sed singulari quadam humani- 
tnte et niisericordia. Vidcor enim mihi hanc urbem videre, 
lueem orbis terrarum, atque arcem omnium gentium, subito 
uno incendio concidentem : cerno animo sepult£ in patria mi- 
seros, atque insepultos acervos civium : versatur mihi ante ocu- 
los.aspectus Cethegi, et furor in vestra caxle bacchantis. Cum 
vero mihi proposui regnantem Lentulum, sicut ipse se ex fatis 
spcrafse confefsus est : purpuratum else hunc Gabinium ; cum 
exercitu vcnifse Catilinam : turn lamentationem matrumfamilias, 
turn fugam virginum atque puerorum, ac vexutioneni virginuni 
vestalium perhorresco : et quia mihi vchementer hac videntur 
misera atque miseranda, idcirco in eos,qui ea pertieere voluerunt, 
ine severum vehementemque prsebeo. Etenim quuero, si quis 
]>aterfamilias, liberis suis a servo intcrfectis, uxore occisa, in- 
censa domo, supplicium de servis quam acerbifsimum sumpserit, 
utrum is clemens ac misericors, an inhumanus et crudelifsimus 
else videatur? mihi vere importunus ac fcrreus, qui non dolore 
ac cruciatu nocentis, suum dolorem cruciatumque ienierit. Sic 
nos in his hominibus, qui nos, qui conjuges, qui liberos nostros 
trucidare voluerunt; qui singulas uniuscuj usque, nostrum domos, 
et hoc universurn reipublica? domicilium delete conati sunt; 
qui id egerunt (9) ut gentem Allobroguni inji'esfigiis hujus urbis, 
atque in cinere deflagrati imperii collocarent; si vehementifsimi 
fuerimus, miscricordes habebimur : sin rcmilsiorcs eie volueri- 
mus, suniuue nobis crudelitatis in patriae civiumque pernicie 
fama subeunda est. ( I0 ) Nisi vero cuipiam L. Casar, vir tor- 
tiisimus et amantifsimus rcipub. crudelior nudiustcrtius est visus, 



(9) 'Utgcrtiem Allobrogwn investigiis hujus urbis.'] Catiline's party had 
made no such agreement with the Allobrogians ; they had only promised 
an abatement, or perhaps a total abolition of all their taxes, provided they 
would afsist the conspirators with tbvir horse, in which they Mere reckoned 
to excel all other nations. But Gicero, like a true orator, represents every- 
thing in the worst light, to inspire the senators with the greater indigna- 
tion, Indeed it is hard to say what might have been the consequences of 
Catiline's obtaining a victory' by the alsistance of the Gaulish horse, or 
how far the Allobrogians might have improved that opportunity to the 
ruin <tf'both parties. 

(KfVi Nisi vero cuipiam L. Cwsar.~] Lucius Carsar was uncle to C. Julius 
Carsarjjjjj? dictator, and grandson of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus. His sister 
JuliapKe widow of Marcus Aiuonius Criticus, was at this time married to 
P. Ijentulus the conspirator. By Ik I tirst husband she was the mother 
of that Mark Antony who was afterwards triumvir, and became so famous 
by his" love for Cleopatra, and defeat at Actium. If we believe Plutarch. 

4 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. IOT 

that of Silanus, it will be easy still to defend both you and my- 
self from anv imputation of cruelty ; nay, and to make appear, 
that it is much the gentler punishment of the two. And yet, 
conscript fathers, what cruelty can be committed in the punish- 
ment of so enormous a crime ? I speak according tu my real 
sense of the matter. *For mav I never enjoy, in conjunction 
with you, the benefit of my country's safely, it the eagernefs 
which I show in this cause proceeds from any seventy of tem- 
per, (for no man has lefs of it) but from pure humanity aipl 
clemency. For I seem to behold this city, the light of the uni- 
verse, and the citadel of all nations, suddenly involved in Haines. 
I figure to mvself my country in ruins, and the miserable bodies 
of Slaughtered citizens, lying in heaps without burial. The 
image of (ethegus, furiously revelling in your blood, is now 
before my eves. But when I represent to my imagination 
Lentulus on the throne, as he owns the fates encouraged him to 
hope; Gabinius clothed in purple; and Catiline approaching 
with an army ; then am I struck with horror at the shrieks of 
mothers, the Hight of children, and the violation of the vestal 
virgins. And because these calamities appear to me in the 
highest degree deplorable and dreadful, therefore am I severe 
and unrelenting towards those who endeavoured to bring them 
upon us. For let me ask, should the master of a family, find- 
ing his children butchered, his wife murdered, and his house 
burnt by a slave, inflict upon the offender a punishment that 
fell short of the highest degree of rigour ; would he be account- 
ed mild and merciful, or inhuman and cruel r For my own part, I 
should look upon him as hard-hearted and insensible, if lie did not 
endeavour to allay his own anguish and torment, by the torment 
and anguish of the guilty cause. It is the same with us \n re- 
spect or those men^who intend to murder us with our wives and 
children; who endeavoured to destroy our several dwellings, 
and this city, the general seat of the commonwealth ; who con- 
spired to settle the AilobrogUins upon the ruins of this state, 
and raise them from the ashes of our empire. If avc punish 
them with the utmost severity, we shall be accounted compas- 
sionate ; biU if we are remifs in the execution of justice, we 
may deservedly be charged with the greatest cruelty, in ex- 
posing the republic and our fellow-citizens to ruin. Unlefs 
any one will pretend to say, that L. Caisar, a brave man, and 
zealous for the interest of his country, acted a cruel part, the 
other day, when he declared, that the husband of Iris sister, a 
lady of distinguished merit, and that too in his own presence 
and hearing, deserved to surfer death ; alleging the example 



in his life of Antony, the punishment now inflicted upon T.cntulur,, was the 
source of that enmity which afterwards broke oyt with ^o much violence, 
between this verv Antonv ami Cicero. 



198 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

cum sororis suae, foeminse lectifsimae, virum pracsentem et audi 
entcm vita privandiim efse dixit ; (") cuni avum jufsu Cofs. ,in- 
tcrfecturri, tiliumque ejus impuberem legation a patre milium, 
in carcere necatum else dixit. Quorum <piod simile t'uit fac- 
tum ? quod initum delendae reip. consilium ? Largitionis volun- 
tas turn in republica versata est, et partiUni qiuedam contentio 
Atque illo tempore hujus avus Lentuli, clarifsimus vir, arma- 
tus Gracchum est persecutes, et grave turn vulnus accepit, n< 
quid de summa dignitate reipub. minueretur : hie ad evert end;! 
iundamenta reip. Gallos arcelsivit, servrtia concitavit, Catiunani| 
evocavit, attribuit nos trucidandos Cethego, ca-teios eives imer- 
ticiendos Gabinio, urbem inrlammandam Carsio, tantam Italiam 
vastandam deripiendamque Catihna*. Vereamini, censeo, nc 
in hoc scelere tarn iinmani ac nerario, nimis aliquid severe sta- 
tuifse vidcamini : cum multo magis sit verendum, ne renufsione 
pcena? crudeles magis in patriam, quam ne sever itate animadver- 
siones nimis vehementes in acerbilaimos hostcs t'uifsc viderunini. 

VII. Sed qua? cxaudio, P. C. difsimularc non pofsum ; ju^- 
tantur enim voces, qua? perveniunt ad aures meas, corunr, qui 
vereri videntur, ut habeam satis prnrsidii ad ea, quae vos statne- 
ritis hodierno die transigenda. Omnia provisa, parata, et con- 
stituta sunt, P. C. cum mea, summa cvjra atque diligentia, turn 
niuko etiam majore populi Romani ad summum imperium re- 
tinendum, et ad communes t'ortunas conservaudas" volnntate. 
Omnes adsunt omnium ordinum homines, omnium denique 
aetatumi plenum est forum, plena templa circa forum, pleni 
omnes aditus hujus loci ac templi. Causa enim est, post urbem 
conditam ha?c inventa sola, in qua omnes sentirent uuum atque 
idem, prater eos, qui cum sibi viderent efse percundum, cum 
omnibus potius, quam soli perire voluerunt ; iiosce coo homines 
excipio,ct secernolibentcr ; neque enim in improborum eiviuai, 
sed in acerbifsimorum hostium numero habendos puto. C a ten 
vero, dii inunortales ! qua trequentia, quo studio, qua vktuie ad 
communem dignitatem, salutemque conseutiunt? Quid ego hie 
equites Romanos commemuvem ? qui vobis ita auromam ordinis 
consiliique coneedunt, ut vobiscum de amore reipub. certent: 
quos ex ( ,z ) multorum annorum difsensione ad hujus ordiuis 



(11) Cum avum jujsu consults intcrj'cctuui, fiHumque. ejus, &C.1 There i- 
ro occasion lor any corrections or alterations in tins place. L. Caesar had 
said, that l.entulus, his sister's husband, deserved death ; an<l. to confirm 
what he advanced, lie mentioned the example of his grandfather, Marcus 
Fulvius Flaccus, who, though far lels guilty, was vet -lain I t order of the 
consul Opimius. Nay one of thesonsol this Flaccus, being sent bv his 
lather as an ambafsador to the consul, to propose an accommodation \ 
Opimius sent him back with severe threatening?, if he should dare to return 
wilh anv proposal, besides that of an immediate surrender. The -on re- 
turning to the consul with other proposals, was seized, and, after the defeat 
of his party,, was put to death by the consul's orders, though but eighteen 
^ ears old. 



CICERO** ORATIONS. 19^ 

of his grandfather, slain by order of the consul; ^lio likewise 
commanded his son, a mere youth, to be executed in prison, 
for bringing him a mefsage from his father. And yet what was 
their crime, compared with that now before us? Had they 
formed any conspiracy to destroy their .country ? A partition 
of lands was then indeed proposed, and a spirit of faction began 
to prevail in the state ; at this time the grandfather of this very 
Lentulus, an illustrious patriot, attacked Gracchus in arms ; 
and in defence of the honour and dignity of the common wealth, 
received a cruel wound. This his unworthy descendant, to 
overthrow the very foundations of the state, sends for the Gauls, 
stirs up the slaves, invites Catiline, aisigns the murdering of the 
senate to Cethegus, the mafsacre of the rest of the citizens to 
Gabinius, the care of setting the city on fire to Cafsius, and the 
devastation and plunder of Italy to Catiline. Is it possible you 
should be afraid of being thought too severe in the punishment of 
so unnatural and monstrous a treason ; when in reality you have 
much more cause to dread the charge of cruelty to your coun- 
try for your too great lenity, than the imputation of severity 
for proceeding in an exemplary, manner against such implacable 
enemies ? 

Sect. VII. But I cannot, conscript fathers, conceal what I 
tear. Reports are spread through the city, and have reached 
my ears, tending to insinuate, that we have not a sufficient 
force to Support and execute what you shall this day decree. 
But be affured, conscript fathers, that every thing is concerted, 
regulated, and settled, partly through my extreme care and di- 
ligence; but still more by the indefatigable zeal of the Roman 
people to support themselves in the pofsefsion of empire, and 
preserve their common fortunes. The whole body of the people 
is afsembled for your defence ; the forum, the temples round 
the forum, and all the avenues of the senate, are ppfsefsed by 
your friends. This, indeed, is the only cause, since the build- 
ing of Rome, in which all men have been unanimous; those 
only excepted, who, finding their own ruin unavoidable, chose 
rather to perish in the general wreck of their country, than fall 
by themselves. These I willingly except, and separate from 
the rest; for I consider them not so much in the light of bad 
citizens, as of implacable enemies. But then as to the rest, 
immortal gods ! in what crowds, with what zeal, and with what 
courage do they all unite in defence of the public welfare and 
dignity ? What occasion is there to speak here of the Roman 
knights, who without disputing your precedency in rank, and 



(12) Multcrum annomm dtfsensione."] TheScmpronian luw had admitted 
tin* judges to in? chosen out of the knights; but L. Sylla again restored this 
privilege to the senators only. AureliusCotta, a few years before this, had re- 
admitted the knights to the right ofjudicuturc. This had occasioned i dil- 



200 M. T. CICERONIS ORATION'ES. 

socictatcm concordiamque revoeatos, hodiernu's dies vobiscum 
atque haee causa conjungit ; quam conjunctioncm si in consulatu 
conhrmatam meo, perpetuam in republic*! tenuerimus, coniir- 
n) o vobis, nullum posthac malum civile ac domestieuoi ad ullani 
reipub. partem efsc venturum. Pari studio defendendae rcipub. 
ctjnveniise video ( u ) tribunos a?rarios, fortifsimos viros, scribas 
item univcrsos ; quos cum casu hie dies ad xrarium frequentas* 
set, video ab exspectationc sort is ad communem salutem eke 
conversos. Oiunis ingenuorum adest multitude, etiam tenuifsi- 
ntorwn. Qui* est enim cm non hare templa, aspectus urbis, pos- 
sefsio iibertatis, lux denique haec ipsa, et hoc commune patriae 
solum, cum sit carum, tiun vero dulce atque jueundum ? 

VIIT. Opera? pretium est, P. C. libertinorum hominum stu- 
dia cognoscere,* qui su& virtute fortunam civitatis consccuti, 
hanc vere suani patriam efsc indicant : quam quidam hinc nati, 
ctsummo nati loco, non patriam suam, sed urbem hostiunrefso 
judicayerunt. Sed quid ego hujusce ordinis homines comme- 
morem, quos private forturor, quos communis respublica, quos 
deinquc libertas ea, quae riulcit'siina est, ad salutem pfltrne de- 
fendendam excitavit ? servus est nemo, qui modo tolerabili con- 
ditionesit servitutis, qui non audaciam civium perditorum per- 
liorrcscat ; qui non obstare cupiat ; qui non tantum, quantum ' 
audet, et quantum potest, conferat ad communem salutem ci- 
vitatis. Qjiare si quern vestrftm forte commovet hoc quod 
auditum est, lenofiem quendam Lentuli concursarc circum 
tabornas, pretio sperantcm solieitari poke amnios egentium 



fcTencc between the two orders for almost a century.; but no sooner was Cicero 
entered upon his consulship, than he formed the project of uniting the eques- 
trian order with the senate in one common party and interest. 1 ne knights, 
m»xt to the senators, consisted of the richest and most splendid families ot 
Home, who, from the ease and affluence of their fortunes, were naturally well 
atfected to theprosperitv of the republic ; and being also the constant farmers 
of all the revenues of the empire, had a great part of the inferior people 
dependeut upon them. Cicero imagined, that the united weight of these 
two orders would always be an overbalance to any other power in the 
state, and a secure barrier against any attempt of the popular and ambi- 
tious upon the common liberty. He was the only man in the city capable 
of effecting such a coalition, being mow at the head of the senate, yet the 
darling of the knights, who considered him as the pride and ornament of 
their order; whilst he, to ingratiate himself the more with them, affected 
always in public to 'boast of that extraction, and to call himself an eques- 
trian ; and made it Iris special care to protect them in all their affairs, and 
to advance their credit and interest : ijifomuch that it was the authority of 
his consulship, that first distinguished and established them into a third 
order of the state. This we learn clearly from the elder Pliny, in the be- 
ginning of his thirty-third book of his natural history. His words are: 
Cicero demum stabilivit equestre nomeri in consulatu suo ; ei striatum conci- 
Itans, ex co sc online project um cekhrans, et ejus vires peculiar i p&pularitate 
qncrrcrts. Ab illo tempore plane hoc tertium corpus in republic* factum 
est, Ci£p>'fyve adjici sauitui f opuloyu* &MW& tauestcr ord*. Tfef poll* v 






cicero's orations. 2ui 

the adminstration of affairs, vie with you in their zeal for the re- 
pablkJ i whom, after a difsension of many years, this day's cause 
Emm entirely reconciled and united with you? And if this union, 
which niv consulship has coniirmed, be preserved and perpetu- 
ated, I am confident, that no civil or domestic evil can ever 
OgaiQ dishurb this state. The like zeal for the common cause 
appears anion <>' the tnhunes of the exchequer, and the whole 
body of the scrilies ; who happening to afsemble this day at the 
treasury, have dropped all consideration of their private aifairs, 
and turned their whole attention upon the public safety. The 
whole bod v- or free-born onizens, even the meanest, offer us 
their arsistauce. For where is tho man, to whom these temples, 
the face of the city, the pofsekion of liberty, in short, this very 
light) and this parent soil, are not both dear and delightful? 

Sect. VIII. And here, conscript fathers, let me recommend 
to your notice the zeal ot tho-e freemen, who having by their 
men* obtained the privilege of citizens, consider this as their 
real country : whereas some born within the city, and born too 
of an illustrious race, treat it not as a mother soil, but' as a 
hostile citv. But why do I speak of men, whom private in- 
terest, whom tire good of the public, whom, in fine, the love of 
liberty, that dearest of all human hlefsings, have rouzed to the 
defence of their country ? There is not a slave in any tolerable 
condition of life, who does not look with horror on this daring 
attempt of profligate citizens, who is i'Ot anxious for the pre- 
servation of the state; in tine, who does not contribute all in 
his power to promote the common safety. If any of you, 
therefore, are shocked by the report of Lentulus's agents run- 
ning up and down the streets, and soliciting the needy an J 
thoughtlcfs to make some effort lor his rescue; the fact indeed 
is true, and the thing has been attempted: but not a man was 
found so desperate in his fortune, so abandoned in his jn- 



was certainly very good, and the republic reaped great benefit from it in 
this very year, through which he had the whole body of knights at his de- 
votion ; who with AtUcus at their head, constantly attended his orders, and 
served as a guard to his person. And if the same maxiot had be<jn pur- 
sued b\ all succeeding consuls, it might probably have preserved, or would 
certainly at least have prolonged, the liberty of the republic. ' 

(13) Tribunes wrari.os, scribas.] The tribuni wrun i were officers under 
the quas-tor, employed in receiving and distributing the public money. 
The scribe* were a very honourable order of men, whose businefs it was to 
record all public acts. The old scholiast tells us, that they were afsembled 
on this occasion, to divide among themselves the offices for the ensuing 
year, pu. who should be secretary to the consuls ; who to the prastors, See. 
This was annually done, and, like the other offices at Rome, usually de- 
termined by lot. * While they were busied about these concerns, they saw 
the prisoners brought to the senate-house; upon trhfcn dropping ail 
thought (if their private affairs, they came and made ah offer of thi-ir 
abistance. 

O 



52*02 T. M. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

at<me iinperitorxnn : est i J quidem cceptum atque tentatum : et 
nutii sunt inventi tain aut fortune miseri, aut voluntate perditi, 
qui non ipsum ilium sella? atque operis, et quacstus quotidiani 
locum, qui non cubile ac lectulum suum, qni deniquc non cdr- 
stitn hunc otiosum yitae sua* salvum efse velint. Multo vero 
ifoaxima pars eorum qui in taberniis sunt, immo vero (id enim 
potius est dicenduuO genus hoc universura ainantifsimuni est 
otii. Etenim omne. eorum instrumentuin, omois opera, ac 
qUicstus, frequentia civium sustinctur, aliturotio: quorum si 
qua-stus, occlusis tahernis, minu* solet,quid tandem incensis fu- 
tiirurri est? Qua? cum ita sint, P. C. vobis populi Rom. prasidia 
non desunt: vos ne populo Rom., deefse videamini, provide.te. 

# 

IX. Habetis consulem ex plurimis periculis et insidiis, atque 
ex media morte, non ad vitam suam, sed ad salutem vestram 
rescrvatum: omnes ordines ad conservandam rempub. mente, 
voluritate, studio, virtute, voce consentiunt : obscisa facibus et 
tells imp'ue conjurafionis, vobis supples manus tendit patria com- 
munis t vobis se, vobis vitam omnium civium, vobis arccm et 
capitolium, vobis avas penatium, vobis ilium igncm Vesta per- 

}>etuum ac sempitcrnum, \obis omnia deorum tcmpla atque de- 
ubra, vobis muros atque urbis tccta commendat. Praaxrea de 
vestra vita, de conjugum vestrarum ac libcrorum animfi, de for- 
tunis omnium, de sedibus, de tocis vestris hodjerno die vobis 
judicandum est. plabetis ducem memorem vestri, oblitum sui; 
quae, non semper facnlta^ datur: habetis omnes ordines, omnes 
homines, uuiversum ponulum Romanum (id (juod in civili causa 
hodierno.die primum videmus) ununi atque idem senticntem. 
CJoQitate quautis laborious iundatum imperium, quanta virtute 
s^ibilitain libertafcm, quanta deorum 'benignitate auctas cxag- 
"eratasque fortunas nna nox pene delerit. Id ne unquam post- 
hac nun inodo contici, sed ne co<;itaUi quidem pofsit, vobis ho- 
dierno the providcudum est. Atque hac, non ut vos, qui inilu 
studio pene pra ; curriti*, exe'tarem, locutus sittn, scci ut mea 
vox, C 4 ) qiue debet else in repub. priuceps, othcio funeta con- 
sulari vidcretur. 

X. Nunc antcquam P. C. ad sententiam redeo, de me pauca 
dicam. Ego, quanta manus est conjuratorum, quam videti- 
permagnam, tantam me inimicorum multitudinem susccpile vi- 



(11) Qrtif debet cfie t'riTCpvbUcd princcps.~\ It was the consul's Kmm 
more immediately to provide tor the safety of the state, and to appl> bim- 
selTtotMs, and "this alone, during the year. Besides, Cicero had sum- 
moned this meeting of the senate, and it mi^ht be expected that he sh 
give„his opinion concerning the prisoners; but this he cautiously a-voids 
doing inxxprets words, though it may easily be perceived v. hah w»j he 
mdines. 

4 



ClCERO's ORATtOKS. ±0$ 

clinations, who did not prefer the shed in which he worked and 
earned his daily bread, his little hot and bed in which he slept, 
and the easy, peaceful course of life he enjoyed, to all the pro- 
posals made by these enemies of the state. For the greatest part 
of those who live In shops, or to speak indeed more truly, all 
of them, are of nothing so fond as peace : for their whole stock ? 
their whole industry and subsistence, depends upon the peacO 
and fulnefs of the city ; and if their gain would be interrupted 
by shutting up their shops, how much more would it be so by 
burning them ? Since then, conscript fathers, the Roman peo- 
ple are not wanting in their zeal and duty towards you, it is 
your part not to be wanting to the Roman people. 

Sect. DC. You have a consul snatched from various snares 
and dangers, and the jaws of death, not for the propagation of 
his own rife, but of your security. All orders unite in opinion, 
inclination, zeal, courage, and a profefsed concern to secure 
the commonwealth. Your common country, beset with tho 
bands and weapons of an impious conspiracy, stretches out her 
suppliant hands to you for relief, recommends herself to your 
care, and beseeches you to take under your protection the lives 
of the'eitizens, the citadel, the capitol, the altars of domestic 
worship, the everlasting fire of Vestal, the shrines and temples 
Of the gods, the walls of the city, and the houses of the citizens. 
Consider likewise, that you are this day to pafs judgment on 
your own lives, on those of your wivVs and children, on the 
fortunes of all the citizens, on your houses and properties. You 
have a leader, such as you will not always have, watchful for 
you, regardlcis of himself. You have likewise what was never 
known before in a case of this kind, all orders, all ranks of men, 
the whole body of the Roman people, of one and the samo 
mind. Reflect how this mighty empire reared with so much 
toil, this liberty established with so much bravery, and this pro- 
fusion of wealth improved and heightened by such favour and 
kindnefs of the gods, were like in one night to have been for 
ever destroyed. You are this day to provide, that the same 
thing not only shall never be attempted, hut not so much as 
thought of again by any citizen. All this I have said, not with 
a view to animate your zeal, in which you almost surpafs me ; 
but that my voice, which ought to lead* in what relates to tho 
commonwealth, may not fall short of my duty as consul* 

Sect. X. But before I declare my sentiments farther, con- 
script fathers, suffer me to drop a word with regard to myself. I 
am sensible I have drawn upon myself as many enemies as 
there are persons <;oucerucd iu the eonspiracv, whose numbgr> 



^^ M. T, CICERONIS ORATI3NES. 

dco: scd cam else jiulico turpem ct iiilirm^n, .oontemptam et 
ubjectain. Quod si aliquuiido ulieujus furore et sctlexe conu- 
! fata manus isU plus vulucrit quam vestra ue reipubliea- ili^niu^, 
'•me tanicn meorum factor um aujue cousiiiorum nunquam, P. C. 
pcenitebit. Ktenim mors, quam ljli mihi ibrtaik; niiniuuituv h 
omnibus est parata : ritw tantam luudem, quanta^ vos mc 
vestris decrctis honestastis, nemo est afseculus. Cateris emm 
semper bene gestae, miUi uni eonservatau reipublica; ^ratu- 
lationem decrevistis. Sit Scipio clarus, iile, cujus consilio 
atque virtute Haunibal in Atricam rehire, atque «.\ Italia. 
decederc coactus est: ornetur alter eximiu laude Airicanus, 
qui duas urbes liuic impeno inm>tii'siiuas, Cartlkiginem Nu- 
mantiamquc delevit: babeatur vir egregius, L. Paullus die, 
cujus curium rex potentifeimus quondam et nobiliUiimis 
Purses bonestavit : sit m *uternu -gloria Marius, qui bis Ita- 
liam obsidione et mctu scrvitutis liberavit: imtupoiiatur omnibus 
Pompeius, cujus res gestae, atque vir tuns iisdetn, quibus spli|| 
cursus, regrianjbus ac terminis cuntmenfur ; crit protectp inter 
horum.laudes aliquid loci nosty^C gloria; j ni^i forte niajus est, 
patefacere nobis provinc las, quo e\. -e poi>iunus, quam curare, 
ut etiam i Hi qui absunt, habcartt ( ';) quo vietores revertantur ; 
quauquam est uno K;eo conditio mcuor externa* victoria, quam 
domestical quod jiostes ..'ienigena aut upprcf*i serviunt, aut 
recepti beneneio se obii»atos putaut : qui autem ex niunero 
civium dementia aliqua uepravati, hostc« patriae semel efe cce- 
perunt, cos, cum a pcirr.iuie reipubliac repuleris, ncquo vi 
coercere, ncque benericio placare \>oh s. Quara mibi cum i>er- 
(litis civibus fitermun belliun susceptum else video: quod ego 
vestro bonorumuuc omnium auxilio, memoiiaquc tantoriun peri- 
culorum, qua non rrtotlo in hoc- populo, qui servatos est, scd 
etiam in omnium gentium serinonlbus ac mentibus semper ha- 
reba, a mc, atque a mew facil< propulsari poise confido. Ne- 
que uila profucto tanta vis repcrietur, qua conjuuetioucm ves- 
tram eqmtumquc liomanorum, et tantam conspiratiouem bo- 
norum omnium perfiingexe et ial.eraetare pofsit. 

XI. Quae cum ita sinf, patres cdnscinnti, pro impeno, pro cx- 

'crcitn, pro provineia 'quam lieglexi, pro triumpho curtertsque' 

laudis insignibus, (julv sunt a mc propter urbis vestra?que salutis 



(\:>) Quo victorts revertantur.] The reflection is ju*t and natural, and 
admirably calculated to confirm what he had been advancing, that there 
vas ;nore,c!oi - y in preserving the state from ruin, than in enlarging its 
bounds bv* the* acquisition pt foreign provinces. We are told in the I 
bJok ot" the Offices, Jt hat Pompey, speaking of Cicero's consulship in the 
Hi.iite, pxprefsed himself] to this purposes "That it would have iittle 
m ava'iW him to obtain the honOtnr ot'a third tthmtph, b?.d noi C'icea^, bv 
•• f^s prudent conduct at home, preserved him the city wherein to triumph. 
I or w^iileCicero was employed in qm IHujji the conspiracy at Rome, Pom] 
tt^> :uAbiu, struggling with the remain* of the Mithridutic war. 



ClCERO's ORATIONS. 205 

■you see to he very great : but I look upon thorn as a base, ab- 
ject, impotent, contemptiWe faction. But if, through the mad- 
neVof anv, it shall rise kgairr, so as to prevail against the se- 
nate and trie republic; yet nprferj conscript lathers, shall T ro- 
il ent of -my present conduct and counsels. For death, with 
which perhaps thi-y will threaten me, is prepared for all men i 
hut none ever acquired that glory of life which you have eon- 
ferred upon me by your decrees. For to others you bare de- 
creed thanks for serving t lie republic sriccefsfuHy; to me alone, 
fdr having saved it. Let Seipio be celebrated, by wlio^e con- 
duct and valour Hannibal was forced to abandon Italy, and re- 
turn into Africa: let the other Africanus Ik- crowned with the 
highest praise, who destroyed Carthage and Numantia, two 
cities at irrcconcileable enmity with Koine: for ever renowned 
he L. Paulus, whose chariot was graced by the captivity of 
Perse*, a once powerful and illustrious monarch: immortal ho- 
nour be the lot of Marius, who twice delivered Italy from inva- 
sion, and the dread of servitude: above all others, let Pompey's 
name be renowned, whose great actions and virtues know no 
Other' limits than those that regulate the course of the sun. 
Yet surely, among so many heroes, some place will be left for 
my praise; unlets it be thought a greater merit to open a way 
into new provinces, whence we may retire at pleasure, than to 
take care that our conquerors may have a home to return to. 
In one circumstance, indeed, the condition of a foreign victory 
is better than that of a domestic one; because a foreign enemy, 
when conquered, is cither quite crushed and reduced to sla- 
very, or, obtaining favourable terms, becomes a friend: but 
when profligate citizens once turn rebels, and are baffled in 
t,heir plots,, you can neither keep them quiet by force, nor oblige 
them by favours. I therefore see myself engaged in an eternal 
war with all traitorous citizens; but am contkient I shall easily 
repel it from me and mine, through yours and every worthy 
man's afsistancc, joined to the remembrance of the mighty dan- 
gers we have esc q>od ; a remembrance that will not only subsist 
among the peopie delivered from them, but which must for ever' 
cleave to the minds and tongues of all nations. Nor, I trust, 
w ill any force be found strong enough to overpower or weaken 
the present union between you and the Roman knights, and 
this general confederacy of ail good citizens. 

Sect. XL Therefore, conscript fathers, instead of the com- 
mand of armies and provinces, which I have declined; instead 
of a triumph, and other distinctions of honour, which for your 
preservation, and that of this city, I have rejected; instead of 
attachments and dependences in the provinces, whieh, by means 
fof my authority, and credit in the citv, I labour no lei's to support 

O 3 



£06 M. f . CiCfeEOfcIS OkATI^KES. 

custodiam repudiate, pro clientelis hospitiisque provincialibHs, 
quae tamen urban is opibus non rninore labore tueor, quam com- 
paro: pro his igitur omnibus rebus, et pro meis in vos singula- 
ribus studiis, proque hac, duam conspicitis, ad conservandam 
renjpublicam diiigentia, nihU aliud a vobis, nisi hujus temporo, 
totiusque mei consulatus mcmoriam postulo : quae dum erit ves- 
tris mentibus infixa, firmifsimo me niuro septum efse arbitrator* 
Quod si meara spem vis improborum fefeUerit atque superave- 
rit, commendo vobis parvum meum nlium ; cui profecto satis 
erit praesidii non solum ad salutem, verum etiam acldjgnitateni, 
si ejus, qui haec omnia suo solius periculo conservaverit, ilium 
efse filiuui memineritis. Quapropter de summa salute vestra, 
populique Romani, P. C. de vestris conjugibus ac liberis j de 
^ris ac focis ; de fanis ac templis ; de totius urbis tectis ac sedi- 
busi de iruperio, de libertate, de salute Italiae, deque universa 
rep. decernitc dibgenter, ut instituistis, ac fortiter. ('*) Habe- 
tis enim consulem, qui et parere vestris decretis non dubitet, ct 
ea quae statueritis, quoad vivet, defendere, et per se ipsum pro- 
state poisit. 



(16) Habetis enim consulem, A'c] It may not now be improper to ac» 
quaint the reader with the ifeue of this whole affair. Cicero's speech had 
the desired effect ; and our orator, by discovering his own inclination, gave 
a turn to jhe inclination of the senate; when Cato, one of the new tribunes, 
rose up, and after extolling Cicero to the skies, and recommending to the 
afsembly the authority of his example and judgment, proceeded to declare, 
agreeably to his temper and principles, that ne was surprised to see any 
debate about the punishment of men who had begun an actual war against 
their country ; that their deliberation should be, now to secure themselves 
against them, rather than how to punish them ; that other crimes might be 

furnished after commifsion, but unlefs this was prevented before its effect, 
t would be vain to seek a remedy after; that the debate was not about the 
public revenues, or the oppressions of the allies, but about their own lives 
and liberties ; not about the discipline or manners of the city, on which he 
had oft delivered his mind in that place, nor about the ^re'atnefe or pros- 
perity of their empire; but whether they or their enemies should pufeeft 
that empire; and in such a case there could be no room for mercy. If 
they must needs be merciful, let it be to the plunderers of tin.* treasury ; 
but" let them not be prodigal of the blood of citizens, and by sparing a lew 
bad, destroy all the good. That the flagitious lives of the criminals con- 
futed every argument of mercy ; that Catiline was hovering over them with 
an armv, while his accomplices tore within the vails, and in the very heart 
of the city ; so that whatever they determined, it could not be kept secret, 
which made it the more necefsary to determine quickly. Wherefore his 
Opinion was, that since the criminals had been convicted, both by te>ti- 
monv and their own confefsion, of a detestable treason against the repub- 
lic, they should suffer the punishment of death, according to the custom of 
their ancestors. Cato's authority, added to the imprclMon which Cicero 
had already made, nut an end to'tbe debate; and the senate, applauding 
his vigour and resolution, resolved upon a decree in consequence of it. 
And although Planus had first proposed that opinion, and was followed in 
it by all the consular senators, Net they ordered the decree to be drawn Up 
in Cato's word?, because he had delivered himself more fuljy and explicitly 



201 

than acquire: for all these services, I say, joined to my singular 
zeal for your interest, and that unwearied diligence you set* me 
exert to preserve the state ; I require nothing more of you, than 
the perpetual remembrance of this juncture, and of my whole 
consulship. While that continues fixed in your minds, I shall 
find myself surrounded with an impregnable wall. Hut should 
the violence of the tactions ever disappoint and get the better 
of mv hopes, I recommend to you my infant son, ami trust that 
it ww he a sufficient guard, not only of iiis safety, but of his 
dignity, to Irave it remembered, that lit* is the son of one who, 
at the hazard of his own life, preserved you all. Therefore, 
conscript fathers, let me exhort vou to proceed with vigour and 
resolution in an affair that regards your very being, and that of 
the people of- Komc ; your wives, and children ; vour religion, 
and properties ; your altars, and temples; the houses and 
dwellings of this city ; your empire ; your liberty ; the saiety 
of Italy ; and the whole system of the common wealth. For 
you have a consul who will not only obey vour decrees without 
hesitation, but, while he lives, will support and execute in per- 
son whatever you shall order. 



uponit than any of them. The vote was no sooner pafscd, than Cicero 
resolved to put it in execution, lest the night, which was coming on, 
should produce any new disturbance; he went directh therefore from the 
senate, attended by a numerous guard of friends and citizens, and -took 
Lentulus from the custody of his kinsman Lentulus Spinther, and conveyed 
him through the forum to the common prison, where lie delivered him to 
the executioners, who presently strangled htnV The other conspirators, 
Cethegus, Statilius, and Gabinius, were conducted to their execution by 
their praetors, and put to death in the same manner, together with Cepa- 
rius, the only one of their accomplices who was taken after the examina- 
tion. When the afiair was flyer, Cicero was conducted home in a kind of 
triumph, by the whole body of the senate and the knights; the streets 
being all illuminated, and the women and children at the windows, and on 
the tops of the houses, to see him pal's along through infinite acclamations 
of the multitude, proclaiming him their saviour and deliverer. As for 
Catiline himself, seeing hi* party In the city destroyed, he was necessitated 
soon after to come to a battle, in which he was defeated and slain, and his 
whole army cut to pieces. 



O 1 



%fi% 



OKATIO "VIII. 



PRO L. MURENA*: 



' i 'g 



I. /^\U./E prccatus sum a diifl immortalibus Jiulices, more, 

V^ instituto^ur lrunonun, illo die quo auspicato (') comitii* 

centmiatis I .. Murauiain consulcm" rcnunciavi, ut ea res mihi 



* in theComitia held • lw Cicero for the election of Cjotl*dfs,*D. Jtfnhr) 
Silanus, and L. ljcinin* Murena, sreoa i hosen to that rnagfefracr. Soda, 
ufter the election was over, a prosecution was set on foot apaitut Murena, 
who was charged with having infringed 'n*- law agadqet bribery aiuJ cor- 
ruption, lately pafscd by Cicero. Cato had declared int! that 
he uonld try the force of this law upon one of the consular candidates. 
And since Catiline, whom he Chiefly aimed at, wa> now out of his reach, 
(btfring some time hefore left the city, and repaired to ManliusS camp,) 
he resolved to fall upon Murena; yet connived at the same in the other 
consul, "Silanus, who had married hi* lister, though equally guilty witk his 
colleague. He was "joined in the accusation by one of the disappointed 
andithites, S Snlptcim, a person -of distinguished worth and character, 
ami the most celebrated lawyer of the age; for whose service, and at whose, 
instance, Cicero's law against bribery was ohieriy provided. Murena was 
bred a soldier, and had acquired preat ft me in the Mithridatic war, as 
lieutenant to Lucullus; and was now defended b\ Ihree, the greatest men, 
as well as the greatest orators in Kome, Crafsus," Bortensius', and Cicero; 
so thai there seldom lad been a trial of more expectation, on account Of 
tbe digniiyof all the parties concerned. The character of the ace 
make* it reasonable to betteve, that there was clear proof of Rome illegal 
practices; >et from this speech of Cicero, "who ('* livered hims'e' fatter Hor- 
tensius and Crafsus, and which', though imperfect, is the qr-1 y remaining 
monument of the transaction, it seems probable that they were such ouly 
as, though strictly speaking irregular, were yet warranted bv enstom, ai d 
the example of all candidates; ami though heinous in the eyes of a Cato, 
os an angry competitor, were usually overlooked by the m. <md 
expected by the people. 1 he reader is to observe, that Murena, at the 
tune ol speaking this oration, was consul elect, and that it happened just 
ut the crisis of Catiline's conspiracy, and bef i lealcd. This 
Cicero insists mightily upon in his defence, urging the necessity of ha vine 
two consuls for the guard of the ciiy it the <>penm» of the new year, and 
the great imprudence there would be in tcttlUg aside one who, by a mili- 
tary education, was the best qualified to defend it in so dangerous a i 
't his consuleration had such weight with the judges that without am 
liberation they unanimously acquitted Murena, and would not, as our 
orator elsewhere tells as, so much as hear the accusation of men the most 
eminent and illustrious. It may not be ajmfc to observe here, that 
Cicero all th\* while liad a strict intimacy with Sutpkius, whosfl he had 
served with ail his interest in, this very contest for the « ororafchip. lie 
had a gTeat friendship also jirith Cato, and the highest esteem ur" his 
,;r'i\; vat he aot only defended this CSU|Se aga&st them both, but, 



» .l " -III ■■'■■ ?■ 



ORATION VIII. 



FOR L. MUR^NA* 



Sect. I-TVyfY Lords, the prayer, which according to custom, 

1VJL and the usage of our forefathers, I addrefsed to 

the immortal gods, on that day, when with the accustomed ce- 



to take off the prejudice of their authority, laboured even to make 
them ridipulous; rallying the profession of Sulpicius as trifling and 
contemptible, the principles of Cato as absurd and impracticable, 
with so much humour and wit, that he made the whole audience very 
merry, and forced Cato to cry out, Whd£ a facetious consul have we! 
But what is more observable, the opposition of these great men in an affair 
so interesting, gave no sort of interruption to their friendship, which con- 
tinued as firm as ever to the end of their lives ; and Cicero, who lived the 
longest of them, showed the real value that he had for them both after their 
deaths, by procuring public honours for the one, and writing the life and 
praises of the other. Murena too, though exposed to so much danger by 
the prosecution, yet seems to have retained no resentment of it ; but, during 
his consulship, paid a great deference to the counsels of Cato, and em- 
ployed all his power to support him against the violence of Metellus, his 
colleague in the tribunate. This was a greatnefs of.mind truly noble, and 
suitable to the dignity of the persons ; not to be shocked by the particular 
contradiction of their friends, when their general views on both sides were 
laudable and virtuous ; yet this must notbe wholly charged to the virtue 
of the men, but to the discipline of the republic itself, which, by a wise 
policy, imposed it as a duty on its subjects to defend their fellow-citizens 
in their dangers, without regard to any friendships or engagements what- 
soever. The examples of this kind -v/IU'be more or lefs frequent in states, 
in proportion as the public good happens to be the ruling principle; fo^ 
that is a bond of Union too firm to be broken by any little differences about 
the measures of pursuing it ; but where private ambition and party zeal 
have the ascendant, there every opposition must necefsarily create animo- 
sity, as it obstructs the acquisition of that good which is considered as the 
chief end of life, private benefit and advantage. This oration was spoken 
in the latter end of the six hundred and ninetieth year of Rome, and in the 
forty-fourth year of our author's age, when he and Antonius were consuls. 
(1) Comitiis centuriatis.] The Comitia were afsemblies of the people, 
legally convened by magistrates, of which historians mention three several 
kinds; the Curiata, Centuriata, and Triouta. The Comitia curiata were 
instituted by Romulus; the Centuriata, by Servius Tullius; and the Tri- 
buta, by the tribunes of the people. They took their names from the 
manner in which the people voted at the afsemblies. Thus, in the Comitia, 
curiata, they voted by curiae; in the Centuriata, by centuries; and in the 
Tributa, by tribes. The Comitia by centuries, of which Cicero here speaks, 
owe their original to the institution of the Census. For Servius Tullius 
iging every one to give a true account of what they were worth, ac- 
j to those accounts divided the people into six- tanks or clafses, 



210 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIC 

magistratuique meo, ( 2 ) populo, plebique ma nae bene atque 
feliciter eveniret: eadem precor ab iisdeir iiis immortalibus ob 
ejusdem hominis consulatuni una cum salute obtin< uiam, et ut. 
vestrae mentes atque sententiae cum populi Rom. voluntate suf- 
fragiisque consentiant, eaque res vobis populoque Rom. pacem, 
tranquillitatem, otium, concordiamque afferat. Quod si ilia so- 
lemnis comitiorum precatio consularibus auspiciis consecrata, 
tantam habet in se vim et religionem, quantam reipublicae dig- 
nitas postulat : idem ego sum precatus, ut eis quoque bomini- 
ous quibus hie consulatus, me rogante, datus efset, ea res fauste, 
feliciter, prospereque eveniret. Qua? cum ita sint ? judices, et cum 
qmnis deorum immortalium potestas, aut translata sit ad vos, 
aut certe communicata vobiscum : idem consul eum vestrae fidei 
commendat, qui antea diis immortalibus commendavit : ut ejus- 
dem hominis voce et declaratus consul, et defensus, beneficium 
populi Rom. cum vestra atque omnium civium salute tueatur. 
Et quoniam in hoc officio studium mess defensonis ab accusa- 
toribus, atque etiam ipsa susceptio causae reprehensa est ; ante- 
. quarn pro L. Mursena dicere instituo, pro me ipso pauca dicam : 
Hon quo mihi potior hoc quidem in tempore sit officii mei, quam 
hujusce salutis defensio : sed, ut meo facto vobis probato, ma- 
jore auctoritate ab hujus honore, fama, fortunisque omnibus, 
inimicorum impetus propulsare pofsim. 

II. Et primum M. Catoni, vitam ad certam rationis normam 
dirigenti, et diligentifsime perpendenti momenta officioruni 
omnium, de officio meo respondebo. Negat fuifse rectum Cato, 
me et consulem,-efTegis ambitus latorem, et tarn severe gesto 
consulate, causam L. Muraenoe attingere; cujus reprehensio me 
XFehementer movet, non solum ut vobis, judices, quibus maxime 

which he subdivided into one hundred and ninety-three centuries. The 
iirst clafs, containing the knights and richest citizens, consisted of ninety- 
eight centuries. The second, taking in the tradesmen and mechanics, 
made up two and twenty centuries. The third, the same number. The 
fourth, twenty. The fifth, thirty. And the last, filled: up with the poorer 
sort, had but one century. These assemblies by centuries were held for 
the electing of ecnstils, censors, and praetors ; as also for the judging of per- 
sons accused of what they called crimen perduellionis, or actions by which 
the party had showed himself an enemy to the state; and for the confirma- 
tion of such laws as were proposed by the chief magistrates, who had the 
privilege of calling these afsemblies. It is worth while here to observe, 
that by the institution of these Comitip, Servius Tullms secretly conveyed 
the whole power from the commons; for the centuries of the first and 
richest daises being called out first,, who were three more in number than 
all the rest put together, if they all agreed, as generally they did, the bu- 
sinefs was already decided, and the other clafses were needlefs and insigni- 
ficant. However, the three last scarce ever came to vote. One thing I 
cannot forbear taking notice of, as it serves to give us a high idea of the 
lenity of the Roman laws and government, namely, that though in the 
election of magistrates, and the ratification of laws, the votes of that cen- 



ClCERo's orations. 21 i 

femonies I declared L. Murena consul in the comitia by cen- 
turies ; that the choice -might prove, happy and prosperous for 
me and my magistracy, for the people and commons of Home: 
that very prayer do I now repeat to the same gods, that Mu- 
rena may enter with safety upon the pofscfsion of his consul- 
ship; that your sentiments and decisions may correspond with 
the wishes and votes of the Roman people ; and that this may- 
be an event productive of peace, tranquillity, ease, and concord, 
to you, and to the commonwealth or' Rome. And if that so- 
lemn addrefs in the comitia, consecrated by consular auspices, 
lias in it a force and efficacy equal to the dignity of the state; 
I must likewise be understood to have prayed, that the same 
might be a happy, joyful, and prosperous event to those per- 
sons, who, in an afsembly where I presided, were chosen into 
the consulship. This being the case, my lords, and that all 
the power of the immortal gods is either transferred to, or at 
least communicated with you, the same consul, who before 
recommended Murena to the immortal gods, now recommends* 
him to your protection ; that the very voice by which his elec- 
tion was proclaimed, being likewise employed to defend him, 
he may preserve the dignity to which he has been raised by the 
people, with your safety, and that of all the citizens. And be- 
cause in the trial now under consideration, not on!}' my zeal 
j for the accused, but my Very undertaking his defence is cen- 
sured by the prosecutors, suffer me, before I say any thing for 
Murena, to speak a little in behalf of myself i not that I prefer, on 
the present occasion at least, my own vindication to his defence ; 
but that having once convinced you of the uprightnefs of my 
intentions, I may with the greater authority repulse the attacks 
of his adversaries, upon his honour, fame, and fortunes. 

Sect. II. And first I will vindicate my present behaviour to 
Cato, who governs his life by the unerring standard of reason, 
unci diligently weighs the motives to every duty. He maintains 
that it was wrong in me, a consul, the author of the law against 
bribery and corruption, aad who have behaved in my consulship 
\vith so inflexible a severity, to charge myself with the defence 
of Murena. This -censure, my lords, is a very powerful mo- 
tive with me, not only to explain the reasons of my conduct 



tury whose suffrages were equally divided, signified nothing; yet in trials 
of iife and death, if the su fir ages ppp and con were equal in number, the 
person was actually acquitted. 

(2) Populo, plebiquc Romance.'] As this exprefsion frequently occurs hi 
Cicero's orations, it may not be amifs once for all to observe, that populus 
differs from plebs, as the genus from the species. By populus we are to un- 
derstand the whole body of the Roman citizens, including the senators and 
patricians. Pkbs respects only the multitude, and those of plebeian ex« 
faction; in other words, it denotes the commons of Home, 



212 M.'T. CICERONIS 0RATIONES. 

debeo, verum etiam ut ipsi Catoni, gravifsimo atque integerrimo 
viro, rationem facti mei probem. A quo tandenr, M. Cato, 
est aequius corisulem defendi, quam a consule ? Quis mihi in 
repub. potest aut debet efse conjunctior, quam is cui respub. a 
me uno traditur sustinenda., magnis meis Jaboribus et periculis 
sustentata ? Quod si in iis rebus repetendis, quae mancipi sunt, 
is pericuium judicii praestare debet, ( 3 ) qui se nexu obligavit 
profecto etiam rectius in judicio consulis designati, is potifsi- 
mum consul, qui consulem declaravit, auctor beneficii populi 
Rom. defensorque periculi efse debebit. Ac si, ut nonnullis in 
civiratibus fieri solet, patronus huic causae publice constituere- 
tur, is potifsime honore affecto defensor daretur, qui eodem ho- 
Bore praeditus non minus afferret ad dicendum auctoritatis quam 
facultatis. Quod si e portu solventibus ii qui jam in por* 
turn ex alto invehuntur, praecipere summo studio solent et 
tempestatum rationem, et prsedonum, et locorum ; quod natura 
afTert ut eis faveamus, qui eadem pericula, quibus nos perfuncti 
sumus, ingrediantur : quo tandem me animo efse oportet prope 
jam ex magna jactation e terram videntem, in hunc, cui video 
maximas reip. tempestates efse subeundas ? Quare, si est boni 
consulis non solum videre quid agatur, verum etiam providere 
quid futurum sit, ostendam alio loco, quantum salutis communis 
intersit, duos consules in republic a kalendis Januariis efse. Quod 
si ita est; non tamen me officium debuit ad hominis amici for- 
tunas quam respubiica consulem ad communem salutem defen- 
dendam vocare. 

' III. (4) Nam quod legem de ambitu tuli, certe ita tuli, ut 
earn, quam mihimetipsi jampridem tulerim de civium periculis 
defendendis, non abrogarem. Etenim si largitionem factamefse 
confiterer, iclque recte factum efse defe^derem ; faeerem im 
probe, etiam si alius legem tulifset : cum vero nihil comifsum 
contra legem else defendam, quid est quod meam defensionem la- 
tio legis impediat? Negat efse ejusdem severitatis Catilinam, 
exitium reipub. intra moenia molientem, verbis, et pene imperio 



(3) Qui s.e nexu obligavit '.] To understand this pai'sage aright, the reader 
must be informed, that the person who was to dispose of a property to 
another, wasobliged to give bond, that in casethis property should be evicted 
in law /com the buyer, by one who had a prior title, then the buyer could 
have recourse for his indemnification upon the seller. This is* properly 
called dare rem mancipi. The nexus is no other than the bond, by which 
the goods of the seller were liable for the performance. 

(4) Nam quod legem de ambitu tuli, &c] Cicero had pafsed a law against 
bribery and corruption, by which a candidate, convicted of that offence, 
was doomed to banishment for ten > ears. The Calphurnian law, which 
was prior to that of Cicero, only deprived them of their seat in the senate 
and the privilege of suing for public honours. Now Cato thought it in- 
congruous in Cicero, who had enacted so severe a law against bribery, to 
appear in behalf of one charged with an infraction of that very law. ' Bu 



213 

to you, to whom chiefly I owe that mark of respect, but like- 
wise to Cato himself, a man distinguished for his integrity and 
wisdom. Say then, M. Cato, to whom does the defence of a 
consul fall more properly than to a consul ? What man in the 
state can or ought to be dearer to me, than him, into whose- 
hands I resign the care of the commonwealth, preserved by my 
toils and dangers. For if in any claim upon an estate sold to 
another he is obliged to defend the validity of the title, who in 
the conditions of sale warranted it to the buyer; surely much 
more in the trial of a consul elect, that consul whose lot it was 
to declare him so, is bound to support him in his claim, and 
defend him against all attacks. For if, according to the com- 
mon practice of some states, the public should appoint a patron 
to plead in this cause, the choice would doubtlefs fall upon a 
man who, being of equal dignity with the person accused, 
could bring no lefs authority than ability to back his defence. 
And if mariners just returned from a voyage are very earnest to 
caution those whom they see setting out, in relation to storms, 
pirates, and shores; because nature inclines us to be concerned 
for those who are going to encounter the same dangers we 
have just escaped : in what manner ought I, who, having 
weathered a violent tempest, begin to have a prospect of land, 
s^and affected towards the man whom I see ready to face the 
mighty storms of the commonwealth ? If then it be the duty of 
a good consul, not only to have an eye to present transactions, 
but to look forward also into futurity ; I shall take occasion to 
show, in the progrefs of my discourse, of what importance it 
is to the common safety, that there be two consuls in the re- 
public on the first of January. And if so, it will readily be al- 
lowed, that the voice of my country for the public preservation, 
calls louder on the present occasion, than my obligation to de- 
fend the fortunes of my friend. 

Sect. III. For as to the law which I pafsed against bribery 
and corruption, it was never surely meant to abrogate what I 
had enacted some time before, in relation to myself, to repel 
the dangers that threatened my fellow-citizens. Indeed, should 
I admit the charge of bribery, and yet pretend to vindicate it, I 
should act infamously, even had another been the author of the 
law. But as I maintain that nothing has been done contrary to 
the ten or of that law, why should my pafsing the law bar my 
defence. Cato says, that it is a deviation from my former se- 
verity, afte^r having by the force of reproaches, nay, in a man- 

to this our orator replies, that it was a primary jaw and rule of his conduct, 
to undertake the defence of diftrefsed citizens ; and that as Murena was 
falsely charged with corruption, he could not avoid appearing in his be- 
half, notwithstanding the late law he had pafs<?d. 



21* M. T. .-CI.CjER.ONIS 0RATI0NES, 

urbe expulifse; et nunc pro L. Muraena dicere. Ego autem has 
partes lenitatis et misericordia?, quas me natura ipsa docuit, 
semper egi lil^enter : illam vero gravitatis severitatisque perso- 
nam non appetivi, sed ab repub. mihi impositam sustinui, sicut 
hujus imperii dignitas in summo periculo civium postulabat. 
Quod si turn, cum respub. vim et severitatem dcsiderabat, vici 
naturam, et tarn vehemens fui, quam cogebar, non quam vole-* 
bam: nunc cum omnes me causa3 ad misericordiam, atque ad 
humanitatem vocent, quanto tandem studio debeo naturae meae 
consuetudinique servire ? Ac de officio defensionis meae, et de 
ratione accusationis tuee, fortafse etiam alia in parte orationis 
dicendum nobis erit. Sed me, judices, non minus hominis fa-, 
pientifsimi atque omatifsimi Ser. Sulpicii conquestio, quam Ca- 
tonis accusatio commovebat : qui gravifsime et; acerbiisime se 
fene dixit, me familiaritatis necefsitudinisque oblitam, causam 
L. Miiraenae contra se defendere, Huic ego, judices, satisla^ 
cere cupio, vosque adhibere arbitros. Nam cum grave est 
rere accusari in amicitia, turn etiam, si falso accuseris, non est 
negligendum. Ego, Ser. Suipici, me in petitione tua. tibi om- 
nia studia atque orficia pro nostra necefsitudine, et debuifse 
confiteor, et praestitifse arbitror ; nihil tibi consulatum petenti a 
me defuit, quod eiset aut ab amico, aut a gratioso, aut a con- 
sule postulandum ; abiit illud tempus: mutata ratio est: sic ex- 
istimo, sic mihi pcrsuadeo, me tibi contra honorem L. Muraenae, 
quantum tu a me postulare ausus sis, tantum debuifse ; contra 
salutem nihil debere. Neque enim si tibi turn, cum petered 
consulatum, adfui, idcirco nunc, cum Muncnan; ipsum petas, 
adjutor eodem pacto else debeo. Atque hoc non modo non 
laudari, sed ne concedi quidem potest, ut amicis nostris accu- 
santibus, non etiam alienifsimos defendamus. 

IV. Mihi autem cum Muraena, judices, et vetus, ct magna 
amicitia est, quae in capitis dimicatione a Ser. Sulpicio non idcir- 
co obruetur, quod ab eodem in honoris contentione superata est. 
Qukj si causa non eiset; tamen vel dignitas hominis, vel bono* 
ris ejus, quern adeptus est, amplitudo summam mihi superbiLu 
efudelitatisque famam inufsif&et, si hominis (') et suis, et pop, 



(5) Et suis ei populi Romani ornameniis amplifsimi.'] Murena was distin- 
guished by many honours, that entitled him to Cicero's friendship and pa- 
tronage, lie was of an illustrious family, that had long made a figure in 
the commonwealth. His father had been qusstor and praetor: He him- 
self was renowned for his virtue, and had acquired great military fame in 
the Mithridatic war. The people too had testified their approbation oi 
his worth, by adYaj\cin£ liim to the jediltjihip, the prstorship, «w4 cow 
to the consulship. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 21 & 

ner by my absolute command, driven Catiline from the city, 
while he was meditating the destruction of his country within 
her walls, to plead now for L. Murena. But in fact, I always 
undertook with pleasure the parts of gcntlenefs and mercy, to 
which my nature strongly inclines me; nor was the rigid and 
severe character by any means my own choice : yet when the 
cause of my country forced it, upon me, I sustained it with a 
dignity becoming the majesty of this commonwealth, in the im- 
minent danger to which her citizens were exposed. But if at 
that time, when the public good called for severity and vigour, 
I found means to conquer nature, and put on an inflexibility, 
not of inclination, but of necefsity ; now that all circumstances 
invite me to humanity and pity, with what ardor ought I to re- 
turn to my natural disposition and habit? But pofsibly I may 
have occasion, in another part of this speech, to enlarge still 
farther upon my duty as a defender, and your conduct as an ac- 
cuser. But, my lords, if Cato's accusation gives me pain, nei- 
ther am I lefs hurt by the complaints of the wise and accom- 
plished Servius Sulpicius, who tells me he sees with infinite re- 
gret and concern, that I have forgot all former ties of intimacy 
and friendship, in undertaking against him the defence of Mu- 
rena. My lords, it is my earnest desire to give him satisfaction 
in this point, and you shall be umpire between us. For as breach, 
of friendship, if justly objected, is a very heavy charge ; so even 
where the accusation is groundlefsi, we ought not to seem indif- 
ferent to the reproach. I readily grant, Servius Sulpicius, that- 
in your suit for the consulship, I owed you, in point of friend- 
ship, all the zeal and good offices in my power : and I flatter my- 
self, I have not been wanting in the performance. Nothing was 
omitted by me, that could be expected from a friend, a man of 
interest, or a consul. But that period is now past, and things have 
put on another face. I allow and declare it is my opinion, that I 
was bound to go all lengths with you, in opposing M arena's pre- 
ferments ; but then I owe you nothing against his life. Nor does 
it follow, that because I was aiding to you, against Murena in 
your demand of the consulship, I am therefore now also to afsist 
you in an attack upon Murena himself. For it is not only not 
commendable, but even disallowable, to refuse the defence of 
the merest stranger, though prosecuted by our dearest friends. 

Sect, IV. But, my lords, there lias subsisted a long and in- 
timate friendship between me and Murena, which, though it 
gave way to my regard for Sulpicius in a struggle about prefer- 
ment, must not therefore be stifled in an impeachment that threats 
ens his life. And was this even not the case, yet the very dig- 
nity of the person, and the illustrious rank he holds in the com- 
monwealth, must have branded my reputation with an indelible 
stain of pride and cruelty, if in so dangerou s an impeachment. 



216 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Rom. ornamentis amplifsiml causam tanti periculi repudiafeem, 
Neque enim jam mihi licet, nequeest integrum, ut meum la- 
borem hominum periculis sublevandis non impertiam. Nam 
cum pra?mia mihi tanta pro hac industrial sint data, quanta an- 
tea ncmini: labores, per quos ea ceperis, cum adeptus sis, de- 
ponere, efset hominis et astuti, et ingrati. Quod si licet desi- 
n ere, si te auctore pofsum, si nulla inertia?, nulla superbiae tur- 
pitudo, nulla inhumamtatis culpa suscipitur, ego vero libenter 
desino. Sin autem fuga laboris, desidiam ; repudiatio supplicum, 
superbiam ; amicorum neglectio, improbitatem coarguit : nimi- 
rum haec causa est ejusmodi, quam nee industrius, nee miseri- 
cors, nee officiosus deserere pofsit. Atque hujusce rei conjec- 
turam de tuo ipsius studio, Servi, facillime ceperis. Nam si 
tibi necefse putas etiam adversariis amicorum tuorum de jure 
consulentibus respondere ; et, si turpe existimas, te advocato, 
ilium ipsum, quern contra veneris, causa cadere: noli tarn efse 
injustus, ut cum tui fontes vel inimicis tuis pateant, nostros ri- 
vuios etium amicis pivtes clausa efse oportere. Etenim si me 
tua familiaritas ab hac causa removifset, et si hoc idem Q. Hor- 
tensio, M. Crafso clarifsimis viris, si item-cateris, a quibus in- 
telligo tuam gratiam magni aestimari, accidifset: in ea civitate 
consul designatus defensorem non haberet, in qua nemini un- 
quam infimo majores nostri patronum deefse voluerunt. Ego 
vero, judices, ipse me existimarem nefarium, siamico; crude- 
lem, si misero; superbum, si consuli defuifsem. Quare, quod 
dandum est amicitiae, large dabitur a me; ut tecum agam, 
Servi, non secus, ac si meus efses frater, qui mihi est carifsimus : 
isto in loco quod tribuendum est officio, fidei, religioni, id ita 
moderabor, ut meminerim me contra amici studium, pro amict 
periculo dicere. 

V. Intelligo, judices, tres totius accusationis partes fuiTse, et 
earum unam in reprehensione vita?., alteram in contentione dig- 
nitatis, tertiam in criminibus ambitus else versatam. Atque 
harum trium partium prima ilia, quae gravifsima else debebat, 
ita fuit infirma et-levis, ut illos lex magis quaedam accusatoria, 
cpam vera maledicendi facultas de vita L. Muranae dictre alU 



217 

1 had refused to undertake the defence of a man, equally dis- 
tinguished by his own virtues, and the Honours conferred on 
him by the Roman people. For I am not now at liberty to re-- 
fuse my afsistance in relieving the distrefses of mankind: be- 
cause having been rewarded lor my industry beyond any one 
that ever went before me: to desist from the toils to which I 
-owe that reward, after obtaining the reward itself, would argue 
a crafty and ungrateful spirit. Was it indeed allowable for me 
to repose, could I do it by your advice, without incurring the 
charge of indolence, the reproach of pride, and the stain of in- 
humanity, there is no course I would more joyfully embrace. 
But if repugnance to labour argues supinenefs; a refusal of the 
suppliant, pride; and a neglect of friends, ingratitude V this 
surely is a cause of such a nature as no man poisefsed of indus- 
try, compafsion, or a sense of duty, can refuse to undertake. 
Nay, it will be easy for you, Sulpicius, from the consideration 
of your own practice, to conjecture how I ought to behave in 
the present case. For if you look upon yourself as bound to 
give your opinion, even to the adversaries of your friends, when 
they consult you upon a point of law ; and if you think it a, dis- 
honour, in such a case, for the very person against whom you 
appear, to lose his cause; be not so' unreasonable as to think, 
that while the rich springs of your advice are open to your very 
enemies, the small rivulets of my ability should be shut even 
to my friends. For if my friendship for you had determined 
me against undertaking this cause, and if the illustrious Q,. Hor- 
tensius and M. Crafsus, with others, who I understand set the 
greatest value upon your esteem, had declined it for the same 
reason ; a consul elect would have been without a defender, in 
sl city where our ancestors never suffered even the meanest of 
the people to want a patron. For my own part, my lords, I 
could not forbear accusing myself of perfidy towards a friend, 
cruelty towards the unfortunate, and arrogance towards a con- 
sul, should I be wanting to Murena on this occasion. All that 
is due to friendship I will most liberally pay, in treating you, 
Servius, with the same deference and regard, as if my brother 
himself, who is so dear to me, was acting in your place. What 
duty, honour, and obligation require of me, shall be conducted 
in such a manner, as to show me mindful that 1 am defending 
the life of one friend, against the resentment of another. 

Sect. V. I understand, my lords, that the. whole accusation 
consists of three heads ; the scandal of Murena*' s life; the want 
of dignity in his character and family ; and bribery in the late 
election. As to those three charges ; the first, which should 
have been the most weighty, was so weak and trifling, that the 
common forms of accusation, rather than any real ground of 



218 M. T, CICERONIS ORATiONJES. 

quid coegevit, Objecta est enim Asia, qua? ab hoc non ad volup- 
tatem et luxuriam expetita est, sed in militari labore peragrata j 
qui si udolescens, ( 6 ) patre suo imperatore, non merurfset; aut 
bostem aut patns imperium timuiise, aut a parente repudiates 
videretur ; an, cum sedere in equis triumpbantium ( 7 ) praetextati 
potifsimum blii soleant, buic donis militaribus patris triumpbuni 
decorare fugiendum fuit, ut rebus communiter gestis pene simul 
cum patre triumpbaret? Hie vero, judices, et fuit in Asia, et 
vero fortifsimo, parenti suo, magno adjumento in periculis, so- 
latio in lahoribus, gratulationi in victoria fuit. Et si babet Asia 
suspicionem luxuriae quandam, non Asiam nunquam vidifse^ 
sed in Asia continenter vixifse, laudandum est. Quamobrem 
non A sice nomen QbjiciepdumMur^nae fuit, ex qua laus familire, 
memoria generi, bonos et gloria npmini constituta est': sed all- 
quod aut in Asia susceptum, aut ex A s i^ deportatum rlagitium 
ac dedecus. Merujifsej vero stipendia in eo beilo, quod turn 
populus Romanus non niodo maximum, sed etiam solum gere- 
bat, virtutis: patre imperatore libentissime meruihVe, pietatis ; 
finem stipendiorum patris victoriam ac triumpbuni fuiise, feli- 
citatis fuit. Maledicto quidem idcirco nihil in bisce rebus loci 
ust, quod omnia laus occupavit. 

VI. Saltatorem appeilat L. Muracnam Cato. Maledictum cst x 
si vere objicitur, vebementis accusatoris : sin falso, maledici con- 
viciatoris. Quare, cum ista sis auctoritate, non debesM. Cato, 
arripere maledictum ex trivio, aut ex icurrarum aliquoconvicio, 
( 3 ) neque temere consulem populi liomani saltatorem vocare : 
sed confpicere, qir'bus pnrterea vitiis affectum efse necelse sit 

(6) Patre suo imperatore non memi/set.] Asia was a country so delicious, 
that one who had been long in it, was apt to incur the suspicion of luxury. 
Cicero with great addrefs cleavs Murcna of this charge, and observes, that 
though he went very early into Asia, yet it was'not from prepofsefsion or in- 
clination, but in obedience to the commands of a parent. For L. Murena, 
the father of him whom Cicero here defends, was lieutenant to Sy)la in 
Asia, in theMithridatic war; and when Sylla, after the peace, returned to 
Italy, to quiet the commotions that had arisen there during his absence, 
lie left this Murena, with two legions, to secure the tranquillity of Asia, and 
oblige Mithridates to make good his engagements. 

(7) P rcciextali poiifsimum jUii .] Among the Komans, their generals who 
eritefed the city in triumph, were allowed to have their children and rela- 
tions of both sexes Who were under age, along with them in the chariot; 
and if they were pretty well grown for their age, they rode upon the 
triumphal horses : if theft was a greater number of them than could be 
conveniently" accommodated either of those ways, then they were suffered 
to ride behind the chariot, upon single horses. 

v8) N-egue tcmen: cotisuiem pcpuli Rovwni seltaioi icero'u 

defence here is somewhat remarkable, and seems manifestly to imph 
dancing was in the highest degree difreputable among the Koreans. It ap- 
pears, indeed., from the preface to Cornelius Is' epos, that though this ac- 
complishment was held in great estimation among the Greek-, yet the 
Roman? made very little account of it. We are not however from this to 
imagine, that they absolute!} condemned all manner of dancing ; for there 
•*.:: several sorts :Of darices which they thought contribc itotUe 



CICERO S. ORATIONS. 2;I9 

t<sensure, seem to have compelled the prosecutors to touch upon 
Murena's life. They tell us, he has been in Asia, a country 
which he visited not for the purposes of pleasure and luxury;, 
but traversed in a course of military toils. If in his youth he 
had neglected to serve under his father, whofelot it was to com- 
mand in those parts, might it not have been presumed, that he 
either dreaded the .enemy, or his father's discipline, or that his 
father had rejected him as unfit for the duties of war. Does 
custom allow sons, even before they take the robe of manhood, 
to sit with the general in his triumphal car? and was Murena 
to decline adorning his father's triumph with military trophies, 
that, by sharing with him in his exploits, he might be entitled 
likewise to partake of his honours ? Yes, my lords, Murena 
was in Asia, and bore a considerable part in .encountering the 
dangers, relieving the fatigues, and congratulating the victories 
of his gallant father. Arid if Asia lies under any imputation of 
luxur}^, there can be no glory in having never seen it, but in 
living temperately in it. Therefore the name of Asia ought 
not to have been objected to Murena, since thence the glory-of 
his family, the fame of his race, andihe renown and lustre of 
his own character, are derived : but his accusers should have> 
charged him with some disgrace and blemish of life, either con- 
tracted. in Asia, or imported from it. .For to have served in 
the greatest, and at that time the only war in which the people 
.of Rome were engaged, to have ferved with cheerfulnefs in an 
army which his father commanded, and to sec his services termi- 
nate in the victory and triumph of his father, are proofs of his 
courage, his piety, and his good fortune. Malice can fasten 
no censure upon these transactions, seeing they have all an 
undoubted claim to praise-, 

Sect. Yl, Cato calls L. Murena. a dancer. If this reproach 
be well grounded, it is a weighty accusation ; but if false, it is 
an outrageous, calumny. Wherefore, M. Cato, as your autho- 
rity carries so much influence with it, you ought never to snatch 
a charge from the mouths of the rabble, or the slanderous lan- 
guage of burYoons: nor ought you rashly to call the consul of 
the Roman people a dancer ; but to consider how many other 
crimes a man must needs be guilty of, before that of dancing can 



gracefulnefs and activity of body, and rendered men more expert in handling 
their arms, and performing all the exercises of war. I am therefore in- 
clined to subscribe to Olivet's opinion, who thinks that not dancing itself, 
but the excefs of it, is here condemned. His words are: An ergo saltarc 
in vicio erat t Non magis quam aedificare, loqui. Vituperationnn 7iihilo- 
?ninus continent axlihcator, locutor : quoniam in his, atque.ajus generis tio- 
minibus attis, implicata est noti'o immodcrationis, quteviiio munquam caret 

P2 



220 M. T. CICEHON1S ORATIONES 

earn, cui vere istud objici pofsit.- Nemo enim fere saltat so- 
brius, nisi forte insanit; neque in solitudtne, neque in convivio 
moderate atqne honesto. ( y ) Tempestivi convivii, amceni loci, 
multarum deiiciarum comes est extrema, saltatio. Tu mihi ar~ 
ripis id, quod necefse est omnium vitiorum efse postremum : re- 
linquis ilia, quibus remotis, hoc vitium onmino else non potest; 
nullum turpe convivium, non amor, non comitsatio, non libido, 
non sumptus ostenditur. Et cum ea non reperiantur, quae vo- 
luptatis nomen habent, quaeque vitiosa sunt; in quo ipsam luxu- 
riam reperire non potes, in eo te umbram luxuriac reperturum 
putas? Nihil igitur in vitam L. Muraenae dici potest? nihil, in- 
quam, omnino, judices; sic a me consul designates defenditur, 
et ejus nulla fraus, nulla avaritia, nulla perfidia, nulla crudelitas, 
nullam petulans dictum in vita proferatur. Bene habet : jacta 
sunt fundamenta defensionis ; nondum enim nostris laudibus, 
quibus utar postea, sed prope inimicorum confefsione, virum 
bonum, atque integrum hominem defendimus. 

VII. Quo constitute facilior est mihi aditus ad contentionem 
dignitatis; quae pars altera fuit accusationis. Summam video 
efse in te, Ser. Sulpici, dignitatem generis, integritatis, Indus* 
triae, caeterorumque ornamentorum omnium, quibus fretum ad 
consulates petitionem aggredi par est; paria cognosco efse ista 
in L. Muraena, atque ita paria, ut neque ipse dignitate vinci 
potuerit, neque te dignitate super ant. Contempsisti L. Muranae 
genus ; extulisti tit urn. Quo loco si tibi hoc sumis, nisi qui patri- 
cius sit,neminem bono efse genere natum; facis ut rursus plebs 
in Aventinum sevocanda efse videatur. Sin autem sunt amplae 
et honestae familiae plebeian; et proavus L. Munrna; et avus 
praetores fuerunt ; et pater, cum amplifsime atque honestifsime 
ex pra^tura triumphafset, hoc faciliorem huic gradum consulates 
adipiscendi reliquit, quod is jam patri debitus, a, filio petcbatur. 
Tua vero nobilitas, Ser. Sulpici, tametsi summa est, tamen ho- 
minibus literatis et hi.storicis est notior, j)opuJo vero, et surlra- 
gatoribus obscurior. Pater enim fuit equestri, loco, avus nulla 
illustri laude celebratus: itaque non ex sermone hominum re- 
cent!, sed ex annalium vetustate eruenda est memoria nobilita- 
tis tua\ Quare ego te semper in nostrum numerum aggregare 
soleo, quod virtute, industriaque perfecisti, ut cum equitisRom. 



(9) Tempestivi convivii. ~\ Some commentators want to read intempestivi 
convivii; but Salmasius has abundantly shown, that no such exprefsioa 
was in use among the Romans. Tempestiva convivia were those entertain- 
ments that began before the usual time for supper among the Romans. 
Such was that of Marius, taken notice of by Juvenal: 

Exul ab octava Mar i lis bibit. 
These early entertainments were accounted scandalous among the Romans. 



221 

fee truly objeoted to him. For no body ever dances, even in so- 
litude, or a private meeting of friends, who is not either drunk 
or mad. Dancing is always the last act of riotous banquets, gay 
places, and much jollity. You hastily catch at a charge, which 
must nccefsarilv he the result of all other vices, and yet object 
to him none of these excefses, without which that vice cannot 
pofsibly subsist; no scandalous feasts, no amours, no nightly re- 
vels, no lewdnefs, no extravagant expense. And if no ble- 
mishes of this kind, which, however they may pafs under the 
name of pleasures, are in reality vices, appear in his character, 
do you expect to find the shadow of luxury in a man, upon 
whom you cannot fasten the imputation of luxury itself. Can 
nothing then be objected to the morals of Murena ? Nothing at 
all, my lords. The consul elect, whose cause I now defend, 
ean be charged with no fraud, no avarice, no perfidy, no 
cruelty, no petulance, nor indecency of exprefsion. So far is 
well : you see here the foundation of my defence ; for I have 
not yet displayed, as I shall afterwards do, almost by the con- 
fefsion of his enemies, the praise that belongs to him as a vir- 
tuous and worthy man. 

Sect. VII. Having settled this point, it will be the easier for 
me to enter upon the dispute relating to dignit}^, which was the 
second part of the charge. I very well know, Servius Sul- 
picius, that you are pofsefsed of that eminent dignity of birth, 
probity, industry, and all other accomplishments, which gives 
you an undisputed title to aspire to the consulship. I know 
too, that Murena is your equal in all those points ; and so truly 
your equal, that neither do you surpafs him in dignity, nor has 
he the advantage of surpafsing you. You affect, indeed, to de-- 
predate the family of .Murena, and exalt your own. In this 
case, if you afsume it as a principle that none but a patrician is. 
of an honourable race, you seem again to summon the commons 
of Rome to the Aventine mount. But if there are noble and 
illustrious families of plebeian rank, then Murena' s great-grand- 
father, and grandfather, were both praetors; and his father 
having from the same dignity obtained the honour of a splendid 
triumph, the accelsion to the consulship became in this the more 
easy to the son, that he only demanded for himself, what was 
before due to his father. As to your nobility, Servius Sulpicius, 
though it be indeed of the most distinguished kind, yet is it 
better known to antiquaries and historians, than to the people 
and voters at public afsemblies. For your father never rose 
higher than the equestrian rank-, nor w r as your grandfather il- 
lustrious by any of the principal offices of the state ; so that the 
nobility of your race appears not from the present discourses of 
men, but must be searched for in the rubbish of old annals. 
I have therefore always reckoned you in the same clafs with 

P3 



22^2 M. T. CICEJlONIS ORATIONES. 

ftfses fiiius, summa tamen amplitudine dignus putarere ; neC 
mihi unquam minus in Q.. Pompeio novo homine et fortifsimo' 
viro, virtutis, else visum est, quam ( ,0 ) in homine nobilifsimo 
M. iEmilio. Etenim ejusdem animi atque ingenii est, posteris 
suis, quod Pompeius fecit, amplitudinem nominis, quam non 
slcceperit, tradere; et, ut Scaurusj memoriam prope -intermor- 
tuam generis sui,' virtutte renovare.- 

VIII. Quan'quam ego jam putabam, judice'S/ multis viris for- 
tibus ne ignobilitas objiceretur generis, meo labors efse perfec- 
tum : qui noh modo Curiis, Catombus, Pompeiis, antiquis illis, 
fortifeimis viris,- ( IX ) novis homiiaibusy sed his recentibus Mariis 
et Didiis et Cacliis eommemorandis jacebant. Cum ego verd 
tan to inter vallo claiistra ista nobilkatis refregifsem, ut aditus ad 
consulatum posthac, sicut apud majores nostros fuit, non magis 
nobilitati, quam virtuti, pateret: non arbitrabar, cum ex familia 
vetere et illustri consul designates ab equitis Romani filio, con- 
sule, defenderetur, de generis novltate accusatores efse dicturos. 
Etenim mihi ipsi accidk, ut ciim duobus patriciis, altero imprtf- 
l^ifsimo atque audacifsimo, altero modestifsirao atque optimo viro 
peterem: superavi tamen ,dignitate Catilinam, gratia Galbam. 
Quod si id crimen homini novo else deberet, profecto mihi ne- 
que inimiei, neque invidi defuifsent. Om-ittamus igitur de ge- 
nere dicere, cujus est magna in u-trbque dignitas: videamus 
eaetera. Quaesturam una petiit, et sum ego factus prior; non 
est respondendum ad omnia ; neque enim quemquam VestrCim 
fugit, cum multi pares dignitate fiant,- unus autem primum solus 
pofsit obtinere, non eundem efse ordinem dignitatis et rerun- 
tiationis ; propterea quod renuntiatio gradus habcat, dignitas 
autem sit pera&pe eadem omnium. Sed quiEstura utriusque 



(10> $n homine- nobilifsimo M. JEmilio.'] M. iEmilius Scanrus was of as 
ancient family, which yet for several ages had made no figure in the com- 
monwealth, insomuch that he wasvery justly looked upon as the architect 
of his own grandeur and fortune. Asconius speaking of him savs, Scaunis 
ita fill patricius, ut tribes supra eum atiatibw jacuerit do mas ejus fortune,. 
IS am neque pater , neque stjus, neque etiam proavus , ut puto, propter tenner 
opes, et nullam vitce industriam,- hsnores adepti sunt Jtaque Scauro teque ae 
■novo homini laborandum fuit. Cicero, in his oration for Dejotarus, calls 
Scaeirus the first man in the state. 

(U) J^ovis hominibus.'] As this exprefsion occurs frequently in- Cicero's 
orations, it may not be amifs to give the following explication of it, from 
Ferratius. Hie qwerendum est, quinam Roma; dicercntur novi homines; 
■res enim non satis per se perspicua videtur. An ii, qui primum in fumiiiam, 
suam consulatum attulifsent ? Nequaquam : nam L. Murccna, qui, ut infra 
habetur, primus in familiam velerem, primus in municipium antiquifsimum, 
donsu latum aitulerat, nusquam homo novus dicitur, cum illius pater et avus- 
pr-.ctores fuifsent. An ii, qui primi ex sua gente adepti efsent magistrutum T 
Multo minus. : nam injinitum prope illorum numerum cxiitifse puto, qi 
riemincm appellation fuifse novum hominem legimus. Qucpropter, c 

'irsTfi dig;:itate77i pervenifsent, ex illis orti faniUiis, ex qui bus anUa. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 123 

myself, because though but the son of a Roman knight, you 
have yet by your industry and virtue, opened your way to the 
highest honours of your eouiitry. Nor did t ever think the 
merit of the brave Quintus Pompeius, though but a new man, 
inferior t6 that of the noble Marcus yEmilius. For it argues no 
lefs magnanimity and spirit in Pompeius , to transmit to his de- 
scendants a lustre which he received not ; than it does in Scau- 
rus, to have renewed, by his virtue, the almost extinct glory 
of his race. 

Sect. Vlll. I had irideed flattered myself, my lords, that in 
consequence of my toils, obscurity of birth would no longer be 
an objection to many hrave men; who were not only on the 
same footing with the Curius's, the Cato'sj the Pompeius's, all 
old Romans, of distinguished courage, and plebeian rank ; but 
with those too of later date, the Marius's, the Didius's, and the 
Cadius's. For when, after such a distance of time, I had broken 
through that barricade of nobility* and, as in the days of our an- 
cestors, laid the consulship open to the virtuous, as well as to 
the noble ; and when a consul elect, of an ancient and illustrious 
descent, w r as defended by a consul, the son of a Roman knight ? 
I never imagined that the accusers would venture to say a 
word about the novelty of a family. For I myself had two pa- 
trician competitors, the one a profligate and audacious, the 
other an excellent and modest man : yet I outdid Catiline in 
dignity, and Galba in interest. And had suecefs been a crime in 
a new man, I wanted not enemies, and enviers to object it to 
me. Let us leave then this subject of their birth in which both 
are eminent, and let us proceed to the other points. He stood 
with me* says Suipicius, for the quaestor ship ; and I was first 
declared. There is no need of^ answering to every particular. 
All of you know* that when many of equal dignity are elected 
into the same office, and only one can obtain the honour of the 
first nomination, the degree of dignity can be no rule for that- 
of the declaration. For the order of nomination is succefsive, 
whereas the parties oftentimes are of equal rank. But the 



nemo vel magistratum gefserat, vet fuerat senator ; eos demum novos homines 
dicebant. Tales fuere quicumque a Cicerone hie recensentur, quorum maj'o- 
res ex plebe, aut ex ordine equestri. Scfibit Asconius iii comment, ad orat. 
contra competitor. Sex cqmpetitores in consulates petit lone Cicero habuit > 
duos patricios, P; Sulpiciurh Galbam, L. Sergium Catilinam; quatuor 
plebeios, ex quibus duos nobiles, C. Antoniuin, et L. Cafsium Longinum: 
\dicuntnr nobiles, quia ex itlorum ?najoribus nannulli consules fuerant.\ 
duos, qui tantum non primi ex familiis suis magistratum adepti erant, 
Q. Cornincium, et C. Licinium sacerdotem : (hineque 7iobiles erant,nuilo 
gesto a majoribus consulate, neque ?wvi homines, quorum patres aut avi all" 
quern magistratum ce per ant.) solus Cicero ex competitoribus equestri erat 
loco natusj adeoque consufatum adeptus, non tamen ante consul at um novus 
homo. 



'SiSk M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. \ 

propedomum pari momento sovtis fuit; hatxuit hie (•'*) lege 
Titia provinciam tacitam et quietam . tu illam, cui, cum quaes- 
tores lbrtiuntur, etiam acclamari solet, Ostiensem, non tarn 
gratiosam et illustrem, quam negotiosam et molestam ; consedit 
utriusque nomen in qturstura; nullum enim vobis sors campura 
dedit, m quo excurrere virtus., cognoscite pofset. 

IX. Reliqui temporis spatiuiri, quod in eontenticnem voeatur, 
ab utroque difsimillima ratione tractatum est. Servius hie no- 
biscum hanc urbanam miiitiam respondendi, scribendi r cavendi, 
plenam solicitudinis ac stomachi, seeutus est: jus civile didicit: 
muhum vigilavit : laboravit: praesto multis fuit : multorum stul- 
titiam perpefsus est; arrogantiam pertuluT difficultatem exsor- 
buit: vixit ad aliorum arbitrium, non ad suum. Magna laus, et 
grata hominibus, unum hominem elaborare in ea. scientia, quae 
sit multus profutufa. Quid Mura?na interea ? fortiisimo et sa- 
pientifsimo viro, summo imperatori legatus L. Lucullo fuit: 
qua in legatione duxit exereitum, signa contulit r manum con- 
seruit, magnas copiat; hostium fudit, urbes partim vi r partim ob- 
sidione cepit : Asiam istam refertam, et eandem delicatam sic 
obiit, ut in ea neque avaritiae, neque luxuriae vestigium re- 
liquerit: maximo in bello sic est versatus, ut hie multas res et 
magnas sine imperatore gefserit, nullum sine hoc impcirator. 
Atque haec, quanquam praesente L. Lucullo loquar, tamen ne ab 
ipso propter periculum nostrum concefsam videamur habere li- 
centiam flngendi, publieis Uteris testata sunt omnia: quibus 
L. Lueullus tantum laudis impertit, quantum neque ambitiosus 
imperator, neque invidus, tribuere alteri in communicanda glo- 
ria debuit.. Summa in utroque est hon?stas, summa dignitas : 
quam ego, si mibi per Servium liceat, pari atque eadem in 
laude ponam : sed non licet ; agitat rem militarem: insectatur 
totain hanc legationem : afsiduitatis, et operarum harum quo- 
tidianarum putat efse corisulaturm Apud exereitum mihi fueris, 
inquit," tot amies I forum non attigeris I abftferis tamdiu ? et, 
cum longo intervallo veneris, cum iis, qui in foro habitarunt, de 
: dignitate contendas ? Primum ista nostra aisiduitas, Servi, nescis 
. quantum interdum aflerat hominibus fastidii, quantum satietatis^ 
mini quidem vehementer expediit, positam in oculis else gra- 
i =■• ■ ' . _ __ _ i ' • . " • ' ■ 

(12): Lege Titia provinciam tacitam.'] Pighius, in his annals of the Roman 
commonwealth, upon the year four hundred and eighty-eight, gives it as 
his opinion', thU C Titiusj a tribune of the people, pafsed that year a law 
for doubling the number of quaestors, and afsigned them their provinces by 
lot. . This, "he tells u», is the very law "which Cicero, in his oration for Mu- 
rena s distinguishes' by the name of the Titian law. Though this can be 
called no more than conjecture, yet it must be allowed far the most pro- 
bable of any that has hitherto been offered for the clearing of this pafsage. 
The province has here the epithet of tociia given it, because being one of 
the four Italic provinces, it was remote from the tumults of war, and gave- 
no opportunities for the exertion of military talents. 



cicfcRo's ORATIONS, 525 

qusestorship allotted to each was almost of equal importance. 
Murena had a province easy and quieted by the Titian law. Ostia 
fell to your share, which, in the allotment of provinces, is ge- 
nerally hollowed at by the people, as being attended with more 
busincfs and fatigue, than power and honour. Neither of you 
gained any reputation in this office ; because fortune had given 
you no field, wherein to display and make known your virtues. 

Sect. IX. Your conduct since comes now to be examined, 
which differ^ according to your different course of hie. Servius 
embarked with me in the city warfare of giving opinions, plead- 
ing causes, and drawing contracts; a business full of perplexity 
and vexation. He applied to the civil law, watched much, la- 
boured without intermifsion, was always ready with his advice, 
bore the impertinence of many, winked at their arrogance, 
solved all their doubts; and lived to please others, not himself. 
Great is the praise, and greatly acceptable to mankind, when 
one man labours in a science, by which multitudes are to profit. 
But how was Murena employed in the mean while ? He served 
as a lieutenant-general to that great commander, the wise and 
accomplished L. Lucullus; in which capacity lie headed an 
army y drew up his men, joined battle, defeated the numerous 
troops of the enemy y and, partly by siege, partly by afsault, 
took a great many of their towns. He traversed the rich and 
voluptuous country of Asia, so as to leave no traces behind him,, 
either of avarice or luxury ; and behaved in that great war in 
such a manner as to perform many and important services with- 
out his general, while his general did nothing considerable with- 
out him. But though I speak this in presence of Lucullus, yet 
lest it should be imagined, that, in consideration of our present 
danger, he gives me leave to exaggerate matters as I please ; I 
appeal to the public letters sent to the senate, in which Lucullus 
ascribes more praise to Murena, than any general, biafsed either 
by envy or ambition, would allow to another in a communica- 
tion of fame. Both competitors are men of distinguished pro- 
bity and rank ; and would Servius give me leave, I would place 
the merits of both upon a level in point of praise: but he will 
not. He depreciates the military art; he inveighs against 
Murena' 3 lieutenancy; and considers the consulship as due only 
to the afsiduities of the bar, and the tedious exercise of our 
daily pleadings. Have you lived, says he, so many years in a 
camp, without so much as seeing the forum? Have you beer* 
absent so long? and now that you are at length returned, do 
you pretend to enter into a competition of dignity with men, to 
whom the forum has been a place of habitation ? But let me tell 
you, Servius, you seem not here to consider, how much satiety 
and disgust this constant appearance of ours sometimes creates, 
among men. It proved indeed of unspeakable advantage, to* 



226 k. t. CICERONI* ORATIONES. 

tiam : sed tamen ego mei satietatem magno meo labore supe- 
ravi ; et tu idem fortafse : verumtamen utrique nostrum desi- 
derium nihil obfuiiset; Sed ut, hoc omifso, ad studiorum atque 
artium contentioncm revertamur: qui potest dubitari quin ad 
consulatum adipiscendum multo plus afierat dignitatis, rei mill- 
taris, quam juris civilis gloria ? Vigilas tu de nocte, ut tuis con- 
sultoribus respondeas; ille, ut, quo intendit, mature cum exer- 
citu perveniat: te gallorum, ilium buccinarum cantus exsusci- 
tat ; tu actionem instituis, ille aciem instruit ; tu caves ne tui 
consultores, ille ne urbes aut castra capiantur. Ille tenet, et 
scit, ut hostium copiae ; tu ut aquae pluvise arceantur: ille exer- 
citatus est in propagandis rinibus ; tu in regendis. Ac nimirunl 
(dicendum est enim quod sentio) rei militaris virtus praestat 
caeteris omnibus; 

X. Haec nomen populo Romano, hacc huic mbi seternam glo- 
nam peperit : haec orbem terrarum parere huic imperio coegit ; 
omnes urbanae res, omnia hacc nostra praeclara studia, et haec 
forensis laus, et industria, latent in tutela ac praesidio bellicae 
virtutis ; simulatque increpuit suspicio tumultus^ artes illico 
nostrae conticescunt. Et, quoniam mihi videris istam scientiam 
juris tanquam liliolam osculari tuanij non patiar te in tanto er- 
rore versariy ut istud nescio quid,' quod tantopere didicisti, prae- 
clarum aliquid efse arbitrere. Aliis ego te virtutibus, conti- 
nentiae, gravitatis, justitiae, fideij caeteris omnibus, cotisulatu et 
omni honore semper dignifsifrium judicavi ; quod quidem jus 
civile didicisti; non dicam, operam perdidisti: sed illud dicam, 
nullam efse in ilia difciplina munitam ad consulatum viam ; 
omnes enim artes, quae nobis populi Romani studia conciliant, 
et admirabilem dignitatem, et pergratam utilitatem debent ha- 
bere. 

XI. Summa dignitas est in iis, qui militari laude antecellunt ; 
omnia enim, quae sunt in imperio et in statu civitatis, ab iis de- 
fendi etiinnari putantur; summa etiam utiiitas: siquidem eorum 
consilio, et periculo, cum repub'liea, turn etiam nostris rebus 



cicero's orations. \ 22$ 

me, that my services were constantly in the eye of the public ; 
yet was it not without great application, that I conquered the 
disgust arising from my daily appearance. You perhaps have 
done the same: yet still I am apt to think, that a little absence 
would have been no difservice to either of us. But, dropping 
this, let us return to the comparisou of their talents and profes- 
sions. Can it be a doubt with any one, whether the science of 
arms gives not more dignity to a candidate for the consulship,, 
than skill in* the civil law? You watch all night long, to have 
an answer ready for those that come to consult you ; and he, 
that he may arrive betimes at the appointed place with his army. 
You are awaked by the crowing of the cock; he by the sound 
of trumpets. You: draw up a procefs; he marshals an army. 
You provide against the dangers of your clients ; he against 
those that threaten his towns or camp. He knows how to op- 
pose and baffle the attempts of his enemies; you can guard 
against the inconveniences of storms and rams. He is em- 
ployed in enlarging the bounds of the state ; you in regulating 
the civil administration. In short, to speak my sentiments 
freely, the glory of military accomplishments takes place ot* 
every other claim to merit. 

Sect. X. This was what first gave a name to the Roman 
people, brought immortal renown to their city, and subdued, 
the world to their empire. All our domestic pofsefsions, all 
these noble studies of ours, all our reputation and afsiduity at 
the bar, derive their protection and security from martial virtue 
alone. The least whisper of any public tumult, puts all those 
arts of purs immediately to silence. And because you seem to 
earefs this science of the civil law as a fond parent does a dark- 
ling child, I will not suffer you to continue any longer in so- 
great a mistake, as to imagine, that this, I can't tell what study, 
which you mastered with so much toil, is entitled to any emi- 
nent share of praise. It was; from virtues of another stamp, 
those of moderation, prudence, justice, "integrity, and everv 
other desirable quality, that I always judged you most worthy 
of the consulship, and every distinction of honour. As to your 
ability in the civil law, I will not say it is lost labour; but this 
I will say, that it offers no certain prospect of the consulship : 
for all the arts that serve to conciliate, the affections of the 
Roman people, ought to be eminent for their dignity, and re- 
commending by their utility. 

Sect. XL The men who excel in military accomplishments, 
are pofsel'sed of the highest dignity. For all that is great in 
the empire and commonwealth, confefsedly owes its establish- 
m eat and continuance to them. Nor are they lei s eminent 



228 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES* 

-perfrui pofsumus ; gravis etiam ilia est et plena dignitatis dicendi 
tacultas, quae saepe valuit in consule deligendo ; pofse consiiio 
atque oratione, et senatus, et populi, et eorum qui res judicant, 
mentes permovere. Quaritur consul, qui dicendo nonnunquaui 
comprimat tribunitios furores, qui concitatum populum flcctat, 
qui largitioni resistat. Non mirum, si ob banc facilitate m ho- 
mines fa?pe etiam non nobiles consulatum conseeuti sunt : prieser- 
tim cum haec eadem res plurimas gratias, firmilsitnas amicitias, 
maxima studia pariat, quorum in isto vestro artificio Sulpici, 
nihil est. Primum dignitas in tarn tenui scicntia, qiuv potest 
efse? res enim sunt parva?, prope in singulis Uteris atque imer- 
punctionibus verborum occupata*. Deinde etiam, si quid apud 
inajores nostros fuit in isto studio admirationis. id enuntiatis 
vestris mysteriis, totuni est contemptuni et abjeetum. Pofset 
agi lege, riecne, pauci quondam sciebant: fastos enim vulgo non 
nabebant : erant in magna potentia, qui consulebantur : a qui- 
bus etiam dies tanquam a Clialda-is pctcbantur ; (") inventus 
est scriba quidam Cn. Flavins, qui cornicum oculos confixerit, 
et singulis diebus ediscendos fastos populo proposuerit, et ab 
ipsis cautis jurisconsnltis eorum sapientiani eompilarit. Itaquc 
irata ilii^ quod sunt veriti no, dierum rationc promulgata et 
cognita, sine sua opera lege pofset agi, notas quasdam compo- 
suerunt, ut omnibus in rebus ipsi interefsent. 

XII. Cum hoc fieri bellifsime pofset: Fundus Sabinus mens 
est: immo meus: deinde judicium : noluerunt. FUNDUS, 
inqim, QUI EST IN AGRO QUI SABINUS VOCATUR 
Satis verbose: cedo, quid postea ? ELM EGO EX JURE 
QUIR. MEUM ESSE AIO. Quid turn? INDE IBI EGO 
TE EX JURE MANU CONSERTUM VOCO. Quid huic 

(13) Inventus est scriba quidam, Cn. Flavins, qui cornicum oculos.'] This 
whole story may be learnt from Pomponius's Enchiridion, whoso words are 
still extant in the book of Pandects, where they treat of the origin of the 
civil Jaw. { shall here transcribe what relates to the present pafsa^e, for 
the sake of such as are unacquainted with this piece of history. Deinde, 
says he, ex his legibus eodem jcre tempore r ac Hones composite iun-t, f ... 
inter se hojTiiues disceptarent ; quas act tones, fte populus, ut vellet, iustituerit, 
c-ertas solemrtesque ejse voluerunt : et appele;;batur >nec pars juris, legis at> 
Hones. Et ita eodem pene tempore, tria fate jura nata sum: legks 
tabularmn: ex his jluere ccrpit jus civile: ex 'iisdem left's act tones com; 
Stmt, Omnium tauten harum et inlerpretandi scicntia, et actioncs, afAut 
legium pontijicum erat, e\ : qui bus coustitnebatur, quis onoqne emtio pra 
privatis: et populus prope centum annos hac consueiiuiitie usus est P 
cum Appiwt Claudius disposuijset, et ad fomtam re'degifstt Has act:. 
Cn. Flavins, scriba ejus, libertini jilius, snrrttptum librum pcpulo iraaidit : 
et. adeo gratum id munus populo juit, ut tribunus plebisjieret, et senat 
wdilis curulis. Hinc liber, qui actiones coiitinei, apptllati.r ji- 
?ium, 1 lien almost at the same time actions or forms were composed out 
of those laws, by which men disputed with one another; which actions, 
lest the people should appoint them when they pleased, "Vere reduced to 
stated and tolemn terms; and this part of the law was called i 
actiones, the forms of the law. Thus, almost at one time, these three 



229 

for their utility; since it is by their counsels and clangers, that 
Ave are protected in the pofseision of public liberty, and .private 
property. Eloquence too has its claim to merit and praise ; 
and is often of powerful influence in the choice of a consul, by 
its addrefs and language to touch the affections of the senate, 
the people, and the judges. The public requires a consul, who 
can upon occasions reprefs the violences of tribunes, appease 
the fury of the people, and check the current of corruption. 
No wonder, then, if this talent has often raised men even of ig- 
noble birth to the consulship ; especially as it is so admirably 
calculated to beget the strongest attachments, the most univer- 
sal good-will, and the firmest friendships: advantages, Sulpi- 
cius, of which that art you so much value is entirely destitute. 
For first, what dignity can there be in so trifling a science ? the 
subjects themselves are minute, almost wholly confined to single 
letters, and the stops of sentences : and then, whatever admira- 
tion might have attended this study with our forefathers, now 
that the whole mystery is divulged, it is fallen into utter disgrace 
and contempt. But few were able to tell formerly, whether an 
action could be brought or not; for in those days there was no 
public calendar. The persons consulted were in mighty esteem, 
and resorted to, as the Chaldeans of oid, to give notice of the 
days on which actions were allowed. At last a scribe, one 
Cn. Flavins, outwitted this tribe of conjurers ; set up a calendar 
with the proper distinction of days ; and pdlaged the very law- 
yers themselves of their knowledge. They, in great wrath, 
and fearing that actions might be brought without them, now 
the proper court days could be known, set themselves to .con- 
trive certain forms of proceeding, to render their intervention 
necefsary in all causes. 

Sect. XII. Though it would answer very well in determin- 
ing a claim: That Sabine farm is mine: Nay, 'tis mine: After 
which give judgment: yet this the lawyer will by no means al- 
low. The farm, says he, which lies in the Sabine country, com- 
monly so called. Verbose enough. But what next? I claim bj/ 
the laws cf the land as my property Go on : And therefore I now 
give you legal warning to quit pofsefsion. The defendant, mean- 



kinds of laws sprang up : the laws of the twelve tables ; from them 
proceeded the civil law; and from the civil law, the legis actiones. 
But the knowledge of all these, with the actions themselves, was confined 
to the pontifical college, out of which the judges of private property 
were every year appointed, and the people went by this usage for near 
a hundred years. Afterwards, when Appius Claudius had digested and 
modelled these actions, Cn. Flavius, his scribe, the son of a freedman, 
stole the book, and published it for general use. This present was so 
agreeable to the people, that he was made tribune of the commons, sena- 
tor, and curule aedile. Thence the book containing those forms, is called 
the Flavian civil law, 



o$0 M. T> CICXRONIS ORATXO-NES. 

turn loquaciter litigiosa responderet ille, uncle petabatur, . sion 
habebat. Transit idem jurisconsultus tibicinis Latini modo ; 
UNDE TU ME, inquit, EX JURE MANU, CONSERTUM 
VOCASTI, INDE IBI EGO TE REVOCO. Praitor interest, 
lie pulchrum se ac 'beatum putaret, atque aliquid ipse sua sponte 
loqueretur, ei quoque carmen compositum est, t cum cateris re- 
bus absurdum, turn vero nullo usu : UTRISQUE SUPERSTI- 
TIBUS PRJESENTIBUS.: " ISTAM' VJAM MCO: INITE 
VI AM ; pracsto aderat sapiens ille, qui inire viam doceret : ~RE- 
DITE VIAM ; eodem duce redibarit. llaec jam turn apud illos 
barbatos ridicula, credo, videbantur : homines, cum recte atque 
in loco consti tifsent, jubere abire, ut., unde abilsent, eodem sta- 
tim redirent. lisdem ineptiis fucata sunt ilia omnia, QUANDO 
TE IN JURE CONSPICIO; et haec, SED ANNE TU DICIS 
CAUSA ViNBIC AVERTS? quae dum ; erant occulta^ necefsario 
ab eis, qui ea tenebant, petabantur: postea vero pervulgata, 
atque in inanibusjactataetexcufsa, inanifsima prudentiye reperta 
sunt, fraudis autem et stultitise plenifsima. Nam cum permulta 
prceclare legibus efsent.constituta, ea jurisconsultorum ingeniis 
pleraque corrupta ac depravata sunt. Mulieres omnes propter 
iniirmitatem consilii majores intutorum potestate efse voluerunt; 
hi invenerunt genera tutorum, quae potestate mulierum con- 
tinerentur ; sacra interire illi noVuerunt ; horum ingenio senes 
axl eoemptiones t'aciendas, interimendorum sacrorum causa, re- 
perti sunt. In.omni denique jure civili aequitatem reliquerunt, 
verba ipsa tenuerunt : ut, qui in alicujus libris, exempli causa, 
id nomen invenerant, jmtarunt qmn es mulieres, ( r 4) qu;je co~ 
emptionem facerent, Caias vocari. „■ Jam illud mihi quidem mi- 
rum videri solet, tot homines, tarn ingeniososT* per tot annos 
*etiam nunc statuere non potuifse, utrum diem tertium, an peren r 
jdinum ; judicem an arbitrum : rem an litem dici oporteret» 

XIII. Jtaque, ut clixi, dignitas in ista scientia consularis 
nunquam fuit, qua; tota ex rebus fictis commentiisque constaret : 
gratia; vero muko etiam minus. Quod enim omnibus patet, et 
axme promptum est mihi et adversario meo, id efse" gratum 
nullo pacto potest, Itaque non modo beneiicii collocandi spem, 



(H) Qiue coempticnem facer uns:~\ The word cqemptio, w.hich Cicero uses 
in this place, has a very different signification from that which it bears a 
few lines before. For'there it denotes the pretended .sale. of an estate to 
some old man, who, in order to elude the rites that were used when a suc- 
cefsion devolved upon an heir, was supposed to buy the inheritance, and 
then invest an imaginary heir with it. But here it exprelkes the union be- 
tween the husband and the wife, which was solemnized in three different 
^uanners by the Romans, Gonfarreatione, usu„coemptiGuej, for an explication 
o£- ijihic'h we refer to Hotoinaa and Brifsonius. 



ORATIONS. 231 

while, has nothing to answer to this tedious round of law-jargon. 
Then the lawyer, like a flute-player at a comedy, going over to, 
the side of the defendant, frames this reply : From those premi- 
ses, whence you gave me legal warning to depart, J rum in like 
maimer order you to retire. Here the praetor, lest he should 
think himself happy in being at liberty to say something of his 
own, is obliged to repeat a common-place form, as on other ac- 
counts ridiculous, so particularly for this, that it is absolutely 
devoid of meaning or use. Let the two parties present, says he, 
advance this way. Go. Instantly a sage presents himself to re- 
gulate their steps. Jietiu-n, says the prcetor : upon which the 
same master of the ceremonies conducts them back. Even the 
bearded gentlemen themselves often smile at this farce ; to see 
men ordered to quit a place where they stand quietly and con- 
veniently, that 'when they have left k, they may immediately 
return to it again. Every thing was infected with the like im- 
pertinences. When I see you personally present in court. And 
i» gain ; Do you offer to speak, when your pretensions have been 
-over-ruled? While these forms were kept secret, there was a ne- 
cefsity for having recourse to those to whom they were known; 
but after they became public, and began to be canvafsed and 
examined, they were found quite void of all meaning, but re- 
plete with roguery and folly. For though pur laws abound in 
admirable institutions, yet have the refinements of lawyers per- 
verted every thing. Our ancestors ordained, that women, as 
being- lei's capable to manage for themselves, should be under 
the direction of guardians. But lawyers have invented a species 
of guardians, whose authority is subordinate to that of their 
wards. Nothing was more earnestly studied by pur forefathers, 
£han to perpetuate religious rites : but the ingenuity of these 
gentlemen has devised a method, in which old men, by a pre- 
tended purchase, exempt the heir from £he servitude of these 
ceremonies. In short, they have quitted the study of equity in 
the law, and attached themselves wholly to terms: insomuch 
that because the word Caia occurs in some of their books, they 
have concluded that all women concerned in any contract 
ought to be so named. Nor has it lefs appeared a matter of 
wonder to me, that so many ingenious men have not to this day 
been able to determine whether they ought to say, the third 
day, or the day after to-morrow; judge, or arbiters an action, 
or a plea. 

Sect. XIII. As I have said, therefore, there can be no con- 
sular dignity, and tar lefs any lustre, in a science which rolls 
entirely upon trivial and empty forms. For what is open to 
all, and alike serviceable to my adversary and me, can never 
surely be accounted engaging. You have, therefore, not «only 
Jost all hope of being serviceable to others, but the very form 



232 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sed etiam illud quod aliquando iuit. LICET CONSULERE, 
jam perdidistis. Sapiens existimari nemo potest in ea. pruden- 
tifi, qua; neque ex f tra Romam usquam, neque Romae, rebus pro- 
lans, quidquam valet ; peritus ideo haberi non potest^ quod in 
eo sciunt omhes, nullo modo pofsunt inter se discrepare ; diffi- 
cilis autem res ideo non putatur, quod et perpaucis, et minime 
obscuris Uteris continetur. Itaque si mihi homini vehementer 
occupato stomachum moveritis, triduo me jurisconsultum efse 
profitebor. Etenim qua? de scripto aguntur, scripta sunt om- 
nia : neque t'amen quidquam tarn anguste scriptum est, quo ego 
non pofsim, QUA DE RE AGITUR, addere ; quse consuluntur 
autem, minimo periculo respondentur : si id quod oportet, re- 
sponderis ; idem videare respondifse quod Servius : fin aliter ; 
etiam controversum jus nofse, et tractare videare. Quapropter 
non solum ilia gloria militaris vestris formulis atque actionibus 
anteponenda est, verum etiam dicendi consuetudo longe et 
multum isti vestrse exercitatione ad honorem antecellet. Itaque 
mihi videntur plerique initio multo hoc maluifse : post, cum id 
afsequi non potuifsent, isthuc potifsimum sunt delapsi : ut aiunt 
jn Graecis artificibus, eos auloedos efse, qui citharcedi fieri non 
potuerint; sic nonnullos videmus, qui oratores evadere non 
potuerunt, eos ad juris studium de venire. Magnus dicendi la- 
bor, magna res, magna dignitas, sumina etiam gratia. Etenim 
a vobis salubritas qusedam, ab iis qui dicunt, salus ipsa petitur. 
Deinde vestra responsa atque decreta et evertuntur ssepe di- 
cendo, et sine defensione oratoris firma efse non pofsunt. In 
qua re si satis profecifsem, parcius de ejus laude dicerem : 
nunc nihil de me dico, sed de iis, qui in dicendo magni sunt, 
aut fuerunt. 

XIV. Duae sunt artes, quae pofsunt locare homines in amplis- 
simo gradu dignitatis; una imperatoris, altera oratoris boni. 
Ab hoc enim pacis ornamenta retinentur ; ab illo belli pericula 
repelluntur. Caeterae tamen virtutes ipsae per se multum valent, 
justitia, fides, pudor, temperantia, quibus te, Servi, excellere 
omnes intelligunt: sed nunc de studiis ad honorem dispositis, 
non de insita cujusque virtu te disputo. Omnia ista nobis studia 
de manibus excutiuntur, simulatque aliquis motus novus bel- 
licum canere coepit. Etenim, ut ait ingeniosus pbeta et auctor 
valde bonus, prceliis promulgatis, PELLITUR E MEDIO non 
Holum ista vestra verbosa simulatio prudentise, sed etiam ilia 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 233 

of addref^ing- you for advice is fallen into disuse. Can any 
man be accounted wise for his ability in a science, which with- 
out the walls of Rome is of no manner of use, and in vacation 
time is uselefs even in Rome itself? Sure there can be no cun- 
ning in a part of knowledge, which is so obvious to all men, 
that it is impoisible there should be any dispute about it. Nor 
was any thing ever accounted difficult, because it was contained 
in a few, and those very plain words. Nay, if you provoke 
me, entangled as I am in other affairs, I will yet profefs myself 
a lawyer in three days time. For all the writing busineis of 
this profession, is contained in certain forms already reduced 
to writing: nor are any of these so obscurely worded, as that I 
shall be at a lofs to perceive their meaning. As to the consul- 
tive part, nothing is so easy as giving one's opinion : for if you 
answer as you ought, even Suipicius himself could not have 
done better: but if otherwise, you will pafs for one thoroughly 
skilled in the controverted points of law. And thus, not only 
is military glory preferable to your forms and decisions ; but 
even the practice of speaking conduces far more to the attain- 
ment of public honours, than does the exercise of your profes- 
sion. I am therefore of opinion, that the aim of the greater 
part at first was eloquence ; which finding above their reach, 
they sunk into civilians. For as Ave commonly say of Greek 
artists, that an indifferent harper may make a good piper ; so 
we see some who are incapable of turning out orators, fall into 
the profefsion of lawyers. The practice of speaking is attended 
with much toil: the study itself is important, full of dignity, 
and formed to beget popularit}'. To you men apply for good 
counsel, but to the orator for preservation and safety. Besides, 
youranswefs and decisions often vanish before a good speaker, 
and can never support themselves without the aid of eloquence : 
in which had it been my happinefs to make any considerable 
progrefs, I should be more sparing in its praises. What I now 
say is no way applicable to myself, but to those only who are 
or have been eminent in pleading. 

Sect. XIV. There are two arts capable of placing men in 
the hi^he^t degree of dignity ; that of a good general, and 
that of a good orator. The one secures to us all the advan- 
tages and ornaments of peSce ; the other protects us from the 
terrors and dangers of war. Other virtues, it must be al- 
lowed, are not without their share of praise, such as justice, 
honour, modesty, temperance ; virtues in which you, Servius, 
are universally known to excel. But the dispute at present 
is about the arts that lead to preferment, not the intrinsic 
worth of particular persons. All these studies vanish at 
once from our sight, how soon any new commotion beats the 
alarm to war, For, as an ingenious poet of approved merit. 



234 M. T» CIG^RONIS ORATfONES, . 

ipsa domina rerum SAPIENTIA : VI GERITUR RES. SPER- 
N1TUR ORATOR non solum odiosus in dicendo, ac loquax, 
verum etiam BONUS: HORRIDUS MILES AMATUR. Ves- 
trum vero studium totum jacet. NON EX JURE MANU 
CONSERTUM, SED IMAGE FERRO, inquit, REM REPE- 
TUNT- Quod si ita est, cedat, opinor, Sulpici, forum castris, 
otium militia?, stilus gladio, umbra soli: sit denique in civitate 
ea prima res, propter quam ipsa est civitas omnium princeps. 
Verum ha?c, Cato, nimium nos nostris verbis magna* facere de- 
monstrat, et oblitos efse, bellum illud omne Mithridaticum 
cum mulierculis else gestum ; quod ego longe secus existimo 7 
judices; deque eo pauea diiseram; neque enim causa in hoe 
contmetur. Nam si omnia bella, quae cum Gra°cis gefsimus, 
eontemnenda sunt: derkleatur ( I5 ) de rege Pyrrho triumphus 
M. Curii: de Philippo, T. Flamimnij de ^Etolis, M. Fulvii: de 
rege Perse, L. Paulli: de Pseudophilippo, Q. Metelli : de Corin- 
thiis, L. Mummii. Sin haec bella gravifsi ma, victoriceque eorum 
bellorum grarifsima? fuerunt ; cur Asiatics; nationes, atque ille 
a te hostis contemn itur ? Atqui ex veterum rerum monumentis, 
vel maximum bellum populum Roman, cum Antiocho gefsifse 
video : cujus belli victor L. Scipio, parta cum Publio fratre glo- 
ria, quam laudem ille, Africa opprefsa, cognomine ipso prae se 
ferebat, eandem hie sibi ex Asiae nomine assumpsit. Quo qui- 
dern in bello virtus enituit egregia M. Catonis, proavi tui. 



(15) De rege Pyrrho triumphus M. Curii. ~] Cicero is here engaged in 
the vindation of his client's valour, whfch, he observes, was tried in a very- 
formidable war ; a war that could not be made light of, without under- 
valuing some of the most important the Romans were ever engaged in. 
Of this kind he mentions several: as first the war with Pyrrhus king of 
Epirus, which happened in the four hundred and third year of the city, 
when the Taren tines invited him into Italy to defend them against the 
Romans. After a struggle of five years, be was finally defeated by Curius 
Dentatus, who was rewarded with the honour of a triumph Philip en- 
gaging in a league with Hannibal, thereby drew upon himself the resent- 
ment of the Romans; who, of the conclusion after the second Punic war, 
sentT. Flamininus against him, by whom he was defeated, and obliged to 
s*ue4f©r peace. For this service Flamininus was honoured with a triumph ; as 
A<as:,soon after Fulvius Nobilior, for vanquishing the.Etolians, and obliging 
them to submit without reserve to the authority of the commonwealth. 
Perseus next felt the weight of thiG Roman power, who was vanquished 
and bakwi pi IsXHlifflyy FSulCTs iEmiliiiS, whose triumph deserved to adorn: 
nor did Andriscus, who pretended he was the son of Perseus, anil as such 
took pofsefsion of Macedonia, long enjoy the fruit of his usurpation; be- 
ing defeated and taken by Q. Caecilius Metellus, who thereupon obtained 
a triumph, and the surname of Macedonicus. The next war the Romans 
■w ere engaged in with the Greeks, was that under the conduct of Mum- 
mius, who took and sacked Corinth, and triumphed over the Achxans, 
So many triumphs granted for victories over the Greeks, sufficiently de- 
monstrated that the Romans considered them as very formidable enemies. 
But lest this should be thought to regard only the European, and not the 
Asiatic Greeks, our orator mentions' also the wars with these last ; whose- 



cicero's orations. 235 

Says, When war is declared, not only the wordy counterfeit of good 
sense, but wisdom herself , the mistrefs of affairs, quits the field. 
Violence bears sway : and the orator himself, not the tedious and 
prattling only, but the approved and excellent, falls into contempt. 
The grim soldier is carefsed; legal proceedings cease ; and claims 
are made good, not in the ordinary course of law, but by force of 
arms. If this be die case-, Suipicius, in my opinion, the forum 
must yield to the camp, repose to war, the pen to the sword, 
and the shade of retirement to the scorching beams of the sun ; 
in fine, that must always have the first rank in a state, to which 
the state itself is indebted for its superiority over all others. 
But Cato pretends that I exaggerate too much the military vir- 
tues of my friend, and seem to have forgot that the Mithridatic 
war was little other than a war with women. But I am of a 
very different opinion, my lords, and must therefore endeavour 
to set you right in relation to that war, though with all pofsible 
brevity, as the strefs of my defence rests not here. For if all 
the wars in which we have been engaged svith the Greeks, are 
to be derided as trifling, what should hinder us from ridiculing 
the triumph of M. Curias over king Pyrrhus, of T. Flami- 
ninus over Philip, of M. Fulvius over the iEtolians, of L. Paulus 
over king Perseus, of Q, Metellus over the counterfeit Philip, 
and of L. Mummis over the Corinthians ? But if these were 
really considerable wars, and the victories that terminated 
them important, why do you despise the Asiatic nations, and 
so formidable an enemy as Mithridates ? It appears to me, 
by the records of former times, that the people of Rome had 
a very dangerous war to maintain against Antiochus ; in 
which L. Scipio, sharing the glory of conquest with his bro- 
ther Publius, added the same honour to his name by the re- 
duction of Asia, as the other had before done by his victories 
in Africa ? It was in this war that your great-grandfather 
M. Cato so eminently distinguished himself by his valour. And 
if, as I am apt to believe, he was a man of a like character with 
yourself, I shall never be persuaded he would have attended 
Scipio in that war, had he thought they were to have to do 
only with women. Nor indeed would the senate have engaged 
Scipio Africanus to serve as lieutenant under his brother, 



importance he leaves the reader to collect from the character of the com- 
manders chosen to conduct them, and the precautions used to render 
them successful. He concludes with observing that the Mithridatic war 
was the longest, the most dangerous, and attended with the greatest va- 
riety of fortune, of any the Romans were ever engaged in ; that of course 
it was the best school of discipline for educating a young warrior, and 
furnished the fairest theatre whereon to display"his military accomplish-, 
meats, 

Q2 



236 M. T. CICERONIS OS.ATIONES.- 

Quo \\\e r cum efset, ut ego mihi statuo, talis, qualem te efss 
video, nunquam cum Scipione efset profectus,, si cum muliercu- 
lis bellandum else arbitravetur. Neque veyo cum P. Africano 
senates egifset, ut legatas fratri proficiseeretur, cum ip:*e paulo 
ante Haimibale ex Italia expulso, ex Africa ejecto, Carthagine 
opprefsa,. maximis-periculis rempub. liberavifset, nisi illud grave 
bellum et vehemens putaretur.. 

XV, Atqui, si diligetitsr, quid Mithridates potuerit >( et quid 
effecerit, et qui vir i'scnt, consideraris ; omnibus regibus r quibus- 
cum populus Rom. bellum gefsit, hunc regem nimirum ante- 
pones. Quern L. Sylla maximo et fortifsimo exercitu, pugna 
excitatum, nonrudis imperator, ut aliud nihil dicam, eum bello 
inveetum totam in Asiam, cum pace dimifsit: quern L. Muraena,. 
pater hujusce, vehementifsime vigilantifsimeque vexatum, re- 
prefsum maxima ex parte, non< opprefsum reliquit: qui rex, sibi 
aliquot annis sumptis ad conhrmandas rationes et copias belli, 
tantum ipse opibus conatuque invaluit, ut se oceanum cum 
Ponto y Sertorii copias cum suis.conjuncturum putaret. Ad 
quod bellum duobus consulibus ita mifsis, ut alter Mithridatem 
persequeretur, alter Bithyniam tueretur; alterius res et terra et 
mari calamitosae, vehementer et opes regis et nomen auxerunt : 
L. Luculli vero res tantae exstiterunt, ut neque majus bellum 
commemorafi pofsit, neque majore consiiio, et virtute gestum. 
Nam cum totius impetus belli ad Cyzicenorum mcenia consti- 
tifset,. eamque urbem sibi Mithridates Asiae januam fore puta- 
vifset, qua efFracta et revulsa, tota pateret provincial perfecta 
ab Lucullo beec sunt omnia, ut urbs tidelifsimorum sociorum de- 
fenderetur, et omnes copiae regis diuturnitate obsidionis con- 
sumerentur. Quid! il'am pugnam navalem ad Tenedum, cum 
contento cursu, acerrirais ducibus, hostium clafsis Italiam spe 
atque animis inflatay peteret; mediocri certamine, et parva di- 
mieatione eommifsam arbitrarisr Mitto preelia : praetereo oppug- 
nationes oppidomm : expulsus regno tandem aliquando, tantum 
tamen consiiio atque anctoritate valuit, ut se, rege Armeniorum. 
adjuncto, novis opibus copiisque renovarit. 

3JVT. Ac si mihi nunc de rebus gestis efset nostri exercitus 
impreratorisque dicendum, plurima et maxima proelia commemo- 
rare pofsem. Sed non id agimus: hoc dico; si bellum hoc, si 
hie hostis, si ille rex contemnendus fuilset; neque tanta cura 
senatus et populus Rom. suseipiendum putafset, neque tot annos 



237 

"When he had so lately driven Hannibal out of Italy, forced hirn 
to abandon Africa, crushed the power of Carthage, and de- 
livered the republic from the greatest dangers, had not that been 
considered as a weighty and formidable war. 

Sect. XV. And indeed, if you diligently weigh the powet 
of Mithridates, his great actions, and the real character of the, 
man, you will find reason to rank him above all the princes 
with whom the Roman people were ever at war. He was k 
prince whom L. Sylla, who, to say the least of him, was no raw 
commander, though at the head-of a brave and numerous army, 
and ready to join battle, yet suffered to depart in peace from 
Asia, which he had filled with all the calamities of war : a prince 
whom L. Murena, the father of whom I now defend, after ha- 
Tafsing him with indefatigable industry and vigour, and reducing 
him to the greatest straits, found it yet impolsible wholly to 
.subdue : a prince who, after taking some years to recruit his 
Tevenues and armies, recovered so much power and spirit as to 
think of joining the ocean with the Pontic sea, and the troops 
,of Sertorius with his own. Two consuls were sent to this war, 
the one to attack Mithridates, the other to defend Bithynia. The 
.latter miscarrying both by land and sea, rather added to the power 
and reputation of the king : but Lucullns signalized himself by 
so many great actions, that we meet with no war in history, 
either more important in itself, or managed with greater courage 
or conduct. For when the whole collected force of the war 
&tood at the walls of Cyzicum, and Mithridates, regarding that 
city as the gate of Asia, flattered himself that by destroying her 
bulwarks, he would lay the whole province open td his depre- 
dations ; Lucullus took his measures so effectually as both to de- 
fend this city of our faithful allies, and entirely consume the 
idng's army by the length of the siege. What ! do you regard 
"the naval fight at Tenedos as a slight and inconsiderable en- 
gagement, when the enemy's fleet, with full sail, and under the 
■fiercest leaders, flushed with hope and expectation, was making 
for the coast of Italy ? I forbear to speak of battles, and the 
many sieges ithat happened during the war. When at 
length he was driven from his kingdom, so powerful was his 
authority and addrefs, as, by conciliating the king of Armenia to 
his aaise, to re-establish it by a new acceision of strength .and 
forces. 

Sect. XVI. Was it my tmsinefs to recount here the exploits 
of our army and general, I might give a detail of many very 
considerable engagements. But that is not the point at present. 
This, however, I will take upon me to say ; that if this war, 
this enemy, tins monarch, had been despicable, the senate and 

0,3 N 



238 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

g.efsifset, nequc tanta gloria L. Luculli, neque vero ejus belli 
conficiendi curam tanto studio populus Romanus ad Cn. Pom- 
peium detulifset: cujus ex omnibus pugnis, quae sunt innume- 
yabiies, vel acerrima mihi videtur ilia,, quae cum rege commifsa 
est, et summa contentione pugnata. r Qna ex pugna cum se ille 
eripuifset, et Bosphorum confugifset, quo exercitus adire non 
pofset,, etiam in extrema fortuna et fuga, nomen tamen retinuit 
regium. Itaque ipse Pompeius, regno pofsefso, ex omnibus 
oris, ac notis sedibus hoste pulso, tamen tantum in unius anima 
posuit, ut cum omnia, quae ille tenuerat, adierat, speraret, vic- 
toria pofsideret; tamen non ante, quam ilium vita expulit, bel- 
lum confectum judicarit. Hunc tu hostem, Cato, contemnis, 
quocum per tot annos, tot proeiiis, tot imperatores bella geise- 
runt ; cujus expulsi et ejecti vita tanti a?sthnata est, ut morte 
ejus nunciata, turn denique belium confectum arbitraretur ? 
Hoc igitur in bello L. Muraemini legatum fortifsimi animi, sum- 
mi consilii, maximi laboris cognitum efse defendimus: et hanc 
ejus operam non minus ad consuJatum adipiscendum, quam hanc 
nostram forensem industriam dignitatis habuifse. 

XVII. At enim in practurae petitione prior renuntiatus est 
Servi'iS. Pergitisne vos, tanquamex syngrapha, agere cum 
populo, ut quern locum semel honoris cuipiam dederit, eundem 
rdliquis honoribus debeat? Quod enim f return, quern Euripum 
tot motus, tantas, tarn varias habere putatis agitationes rluc- 
tuum, quantas perturbationes et quantos astus habet ratio co- 
mitiorum? Dies intermifsus unus, aut nox interposita, ssepe 
perturbat omnia : et totum opinionem parva nonnunquam com- 
mutat aura rumoris. Saepe etiam sine ulia aperta causa fit aliud 
. atque existimamus, ut nonnunquam ita factum else etiam popu- 
lus admiretur ; quasi vero non ipse fecerit.' Nihil est incertius 
vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione 
tota comitiorum. Quis L. Philippum summo ingenio, opibus, 
gratia, nobilitate, a M. Herennio superari poise arbitratus est? 
quis Q. Catulum humanitate, sapientia, integritate antecellen- 
tern, a Cn. Manlio ? quis M. Scaurum hominem graviisimum, 
civem egregium, fortifsimum senutorein, a Q. Maximo? ncjj 



2-39 

people of Rome would not have thought it necefsary to use so 
much precaution in their preparations ; never would the war 
have lasted so long ; never could Lucullus have returned from 
it with so much glory ; nor would the Romans have heen so 
earnest to entrust the finishing of it to Cn. Pompey: of all 
whose innumerable battles, none seems to me to have been 
fiercer than that so obstinately disputed with this king ; who, 
finding means to escape with some troops, and taking refuge in 
Bosphorus, whither our army could not penetrate, supported, 
even in the lowest ebb of flight and fortune, the name and re- 
putation of a monarch. Accordingly Pompey, having, taken 
poisefsion of his kingdom, and driven him from all his known 
haunts and territories, made yet so great account of the life of 
this one man, that though by his vicory, he became master of 
all that Mithridates held, laid claim to, or aspired after ; he 
neverthelefs did not look upon the war as finished till he had 
driven Mithridates out of the world- And do you, Cato, de- 
spise an enemy, who, for so many years, and in so many bat- 
tles, lias opposed so many of our generals ; whose life, even in 
expulsion and exile, was so highly accounted of, that the Avar 
was never looked upon as finished till the news came of his 
death ? It is in this war, I contend, that L. Murena, in the cha- 
racter of lieutenant-general, distinguished himself by his un- 
daunted courage, his consummate prudence, and his indefatig- 
able industry ; nor do these qualities recommend him with lets 
advantage to the consulship, than does our practice at the bar 
and in the forum. 

Sect. XV1L But Servius, J am told,, was declared first, in 
the competition for the praetorship. Do you then exact from 
the people, as if in virtue of some contract, that because they 
once gave the preference to a man in a point of honour, he has 
therefore a right to it on all succeeding occasions ? What sea, 
what narrow strait, is agitated with more fluctuations and 
changes, than are the tolsings and tumults of popular afsem- 
blies? One day intermitted, or one night, often throws all into 
confusion; and the least breath of rumour sometimes entirely 
changes the inclinations of the people. Often without any ap- 
parent cause, the very reverse of what we expected happens, in- 
somuch that even the people sometimes wonder at the event, as 
if it did not wholly proceed from themselves. Nothing is more 
unstable than the multitude, nothing more impenetrable than the 
mind of man, nothing more fallacious than the ifsue of elections. 
Who could have imagined that L. Philippus, so eminent for his 
parts, application, interest, and birth, would have been baffled 
by M. Herennius? or, Q.. Catulus, with his known character 
of humanity, wisdom, and integrity, by Cn. Manlius? or 
M. Scaurus, so able a statefman, so worthy a citizen, and so brave 

Q 4 



240 M. T. CleERdNfS OfcAf IONES. 

modo horum nihil ita fore putatum est, sed ne cum efset fa&um 
quidem, qtiare ita factum efset intelligi potuit. Nam ut tern- 
pestates saepe certo aliquo cceli signo commoventur, saepe im- 
provise* nulla ex certa ratione, obscura uliqua ex causa excitan- 
tur : sic in hac cbmitiorum tempestate populari, ssepe intelligas, 
quo signo commota sit; ssepe ita obscura est, ut casu excitata 
efse videatur. 

XVIII. Sed tamen, si est reddenda ratio, ( l6 ) duse res vehe- 
menter in praetura desiderata^ sunt, quae ambae in consulatu turn 
Muraenas profuerunt : una, exspectatio muneris, quae et rumore 
nonnulio, et studiis sermonibusque competitorum creverat : al- 
tera, quod ri, qnos in provincial ac iegatione, omnis et liberaiita- 
tis et virtutis sua; testes habuerat, nondum decefserant. Horum 
utrumque ei fortuna ad consulatCis petitionem reservavit. Nam 
et L. Luculli exevcitus, qui ad trimnphum convenerat, idem co- 
mes L. Murajna; pracsto rait; et munus amplifsimum, quod pe~ 
titio praeturae desiderabat, praestura restituit. Nuru tibi hac 
parva videntur adjumenta et subsidia consuiatCis? voluntas mi- 
jitum ? quae cam per se valet multitudme, turn apud suos 
gratia; turn verd in consule declurando muitum etiain'apud 
universum popuium Rom. auctoritatis habet suitragatio milita- 
ris : irnperatores enim comitiis consularibus, non verborum in- 
terpretes deliguntuf, Quare gravis est ilia oratio . Me saucium 
recreavit : me pr&^ia donavit : hoc duce castra cepimus, signa 
contulimus : nunquam iste plus militi labons imposuit, quam sibi 
sumpsit ipse; cum fortis turn etiam feiix. Hoc quanti putas 
efse ad famam hominum, ac^ voluntatem ? etenim si tanta 
illis comitiis religio est, ut adhuc semper omen vaiuerit prse- 
rogativum ; quid mirum est, in hoc reiicitatis famam scrmonem- 
que valuifse ? 



(16) Diue res vehementef in prceturo desideraice sunt, qucz amh^e in consu- 
tat.u turn IMuttEntE profuerunt.~\ Two things were wanting to Murena when 
he stood candidate for the puvtorship, the absence of which contributed 
riot a little to render him lefs acceptable to the people than bis v ompetitor 
Sulpicms. Both these attended him in his suit for the consulship, and 
enabled him in the end to triumph over his rival. One of these was the 
expectation of public games, which had been fomented by various ru- 
mours, and the studied insinuations of his fellow-candidates. Murena had 
never been aeclile, and therefore had no opportunity of recommending him- 
self to the favour of*the people, by an exhibition of public games. This 
was a great disadvantage to him when he sued for the prastorship ; because 
the ether candidates having enjoyed that magistracy, and the means it 
furnished of becoming popular, failed not to "boast of the zeal they had 
shown to please the people, and encouraged the rumours against Murena, 
whom they represented as one that had de-dined the office out of parsi- 
mony. Ris pratorship, however, restored this opportunity of acquiring 
popularity; because it fell to his lot, as city prjetot, to exhibit the \ 
feiicceel tc Apollo, which he did ill a most magnificent rhairoer and thereby 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 241 

a senator,. by Q. Maximus. These great men so little expected 
such a repulse, that when the affair was over, they could not 
comprehend how it had happened. For as tempests are often 
portended by certain appearances of the heaven, and often arise 
suddenly and unexpectedly from some obscure cause; so in the 
storms attending popular elections, you often can perceive 
whence they take their rise ; but often too the cause is so ob- 
scure, that the whole seems the mere effect of chance. 

Sect. XVIIL But if we must give a reason for it, two things 
were conspicuously wanting in Murena's suit for the praetorship, 
which both contributed greatly to his being chosen consul: 
one, the expectation of public games, which was increased by 
certain reports, and the affected talk and discourse of his rivals; 
the other, that they who had been w r itnefses to his liberality 
and bravery while he served as lieutenant in the province, were 
pot yet returned from the province to Home. Fortune reserved 
both these advantages to give weight to his solicitation for the 
Consulship. For the army of Lucnllus afsembling at Rome to 
attend that general's triumph, afsisteel Murena in his applica- 
tion ; *and in his prsetorship he entertained , the people with 
magnificent public shows, which were w r anting when he stood 
candidate for that dignity. Are these, think you, weak and 
feeble helps to a consulship ; to be supported by an army, 
powerful in the number of troops, and of considerable interest 
by its friends ? besides, that in the election of a consul, the 
suffrages of the soldiers have always been of great authority 
With the whole body of the Roman people. For generals, and 
not interpreters of words, are the succefsful candidates at a 
consular election. Accordingly there is much weight in a 
speech like this : He relieved me when I was wounded ; he en- 
riched me with plunder ; under his conduct we stormed the ene- 
mies camp, after hating vanquished them in battle ; he imposed 
no hardships on his soldiers, in which he did not share himself; 
always brave, always succefsful. How prevalent must a dis- 
course of this kind be, to raise a man's reputation, and conci- 
liate- the good-will of the people ! for if the voices of the pre- 
rogative century are still regarded with religious awe, so as to 
pats for a favourable presage ; what reason is there to wonder, 
that the fame and discourse of Murena's good fortune prevailed 
for him on this occasion ! 



so effectually ingratiated himself with the people, that when he stood can- 
didate for the consulship, he found his -interest greatly increased, and was 
even chosen in preference to Sulpicius. 



242 T. M. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XIX. Sed si haec leviora ducis, quae sunt gravissima, et hanc 
urbanam suffragationem militari anteponis ; noli ludorum huju^ 
elegatitium, et scenae magnificentiam valde contemnere, quae 
liuic admodum prof'uenint. Nam quid ego dicam populum ac 
valgus iinperitum \\id\s magnopere delectari ? minus est miran- 
chun : quanquam huic- causae satis est ; sunt enim populi ac 
rouititudinis comitia. Quare si populo ludorum magniticentia 
voluptati est, non est, mirandum, earn L. Murenae apud popu- 
lum proiiusse. Seel si nosmetipsi, qui et ab delectatione omni 
negotiis impediniur, et in ipsa occupatione delectationes alias 
muitas abere possumus, ludis tamen oblectamur et ducimur ; 
quid tuadmirere cle multitudine indocta? (- 17 ) L. Otho, vir for- 
tis, mens necessarius, equestri .ordini restituit, non solum dig- 
nitatem, sed etiam voluptatem ; itaque lex haec, quae ad ludos 
perrinet, est omnium gratissima ; quod honestissimo ordini cum 
sdfendore tructus quoque jucunditatis est restitutus. Quare de- 
Jectant homines, mihi crede, ludi, etiam illos qui dissimulant, 
non solum eos qui latentur : quod ego in mea petitione sensi : 
nam nos quoque habuimus ( ,8 ) scenam competitricem. Quod 
si eo-o, quitrinos ludos aedilisfeceram, tamen Antonii ludis com- 

(17) L.Otho,virfortis.~] L. Roscius Otho, tribune of the people, published 
a law, for the afsignment of distinct seats in the theatres to the equestrian 
order, who used before to sit promiscuously with the populace: but by 
this; law, fourteen rows of benches, next to those of the senators, were to be 
appropriated to their use; by which he secured to them, as Cicero says, both 
their dignity and their pleasure. The senate obtained the same privilege 
of separate seats about an hundred years before, in the consulship of Scipia 
Afrtcanus, which highly disgusted the people, and gave occasion, says 
iiivy, as all innovations are apt to do, to much debate and censure ; for 
many of the wiser sort condemned all such distinctions in a free city, as 
elangerous to the public peace ; and Scipio himself afterwards repented", and 
blamed himself for suffering it. Otho's law, we may imagine, gave still 
greater offence, as it was a greater affront to the people to be removed yet 
farther from what of all things they were fondest of, the sight of plays a'nd 
shows. It was carried, however, by the authority of the tribune, and is 
frequently referred to by the clafsic writers, as an act very memorable, 
and what made much noise in its time. Some time after, during the con- 
sulship of Cicero, and while the grudge was still fresh, Otho happening to 
come into the theatre, was; received by the populace with an universal hifSj, 
but by the knights with loud applaufe and clapping: both sides redoubled 
their clamour with great fierccnefs, afcd from reproaches were proceeding 
to blows ; till Cicero, informed of the tumult, came immediately to the 
theatre, and calling the people out into the temple of Bellona, so tamed 
and stung them by the power of his words, and made them so ashamed 
of their lolly and perversenefs, that on their return to the theatre they 
changed their hifses to applaufes, and vied with the knights themselves in. 
demonstrations 1 of their respect to Otho. The speech was soon after 
publimed ; though, from the nature of the thing, it must have been made 
upon the spot, and flowed extempore from the occasion ; and as it was 
much read and admired for several ages after, as a memorable instance of 
Cicero's command over men's pafsions," so some have imagined* it to be 
alluded to in that beautiful pafsage of Virgil, where he represents Neptune 
appearing above the waves, and quieting the storm that has dispersed 
JEneas's fleet : 



243 

Sect. XIX. But if you make light of these advantages, which 
yet are in reality of very great account, and prefer the suf- 
frages of citizens to those of soldiers ; at least let me advise you 
to supprefs your- contempt for the elegance of Murena's plays, 
and the magnificence of his scenes, which did him so much 
service. For what need is there of putting you in mind, how 
much the people and unthinking vulgar are delighted with the 
public shows? The fact is incontestable, and abundantly serves 
my present purpose ; since, in afsemblies for elections, the 
people and multitude are always predominant. If then the 
magnificence of public spectacles gives such content to die 
peop]c ? there is the lefs reason to wonder that Murena thereby 
so effectually gained their favour. For if even we, whom busi- 
nefs restrains from the pursuit of pleasure, and who in the, 
course of our engagements often find pleasure enough, are yet 
sometimes amused and diverted by the public shows; why should 
we be surprised at the thoughtlefs multitude ? My brave friend, 
L. Otho, has restored to the equestrian order, not only their dig- 
nity, but likewise their pleasure. Accordingly this law relating 
to the public spectacles, is of all others the most agreeable ; 
because it secures to a very honourable clafs of men, along with 
the splendour of their rank, the convenience also of their diver- 
sions. Therefore, take my word for it, the public games not 
only delight those who confers, but those too who affect to 
speak of them with indifference : as I myself experienced in the 
course of my preferment, when it was my turn to engage in 
this contest of magnificence. But if I who, when aedile, 



" Ac veluti magno in populo cum same coorta est 

" Seditio, ssevitque animis ignobile vulgus ; 

" Jamque faces et saxa volant furor arma mininrat : 

" Turn pietate gravem et meritis si forte virum quern 

■' Aspexere,. silent, arrectisque auribus adstant; 

ff Hie regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet." Firg, Mn. I. 152. 

f* As when sedition fires th' ignoble crowd, 

And the wild rabble storms and thirsts for blood ; 

Of stones and brands a mingled tempest flies, 

With all the sudden arms that rage supphes, 

Jf some grave sire appears amidst the strife, 

In morals strict, and innocence of life, 

All stand attentive, while tne sage controuls 

Their wrath, and calms the tempest of their souls." put. 

What gives the greater colour to this imagination is, that Quintilian ap- 
plies these lines to his character of a complete orator, which he profefsedly 
forms upon the model of Cicero. The oration itself is now lost ; but it 
appears by Macrobius, that cue topic which Cicero touched in this speech, 
and indeed the only one of whxh we have any hint from antiquity, was to 
reproach the rioters for their want of taste and good sense, in making such 
a disturbance while Ro.,cius was acting. 

(18) Scenam competitrictm.'] Cicero here intimates, that when he stood 
candidate for the consulship, he was opposed by several rivals, not a little 
formidable by the court they had paid to the people in the exhibition of 
plays and mows. Among the rest Antony, who had been Cicero's col- 
league in the acdileship, is related to have exceeded all that weiit before 
Jum m magnificence, mfomuch that the very scenes were of solid silver. 



244 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

movebar ; tibi, qui casu nullos feceras, nihil hujus istam ipsam, 
quam irrides, argenteam scenam adversatam putas f Sed haec sane 
sint paria omnia; sit par forensis opera militari ; sit par mili- 
tari suffragatio urbana ; sit idem, magnificentifsimos, et nullos 
unquam fecifse ludos : quid? in ipsa praetura, nihilne existimas 
inter tuam et istius sortem interfuifse ? 

XX. Hujus sors ea fuit, quam omnes tui necefsarii tibi optaba^ 
mus, ( I9 ) juris dicundi: in qua gloriam conciliat magnitudo ne- 
gotii, gratiam asquitatis largitio : qua in sorte sapiens praetor, 
qualis hie fuit, oliensionem vitat asquabilitate decernendi, bene- 
volentiam adjungit lenitate audiendi. Egregia et ad consula- 
tum apta provincio : in qua laus asquitatis, integritatis, facilita- 
tes, ad extremum, ludorum voluptate eonciuditur. Quid tua 
sors? tristis, atrox, ( iq ) quaestio peculates; ex una parte la- 
crymarum et squaloris, ex altera plena catenaruni atque indi- 
cum: cogendi judices inviti, retinendi contra voluntatem : 
scriba damnatus, ordo totus alienus: Syllana gratificatio repre- 
hensa : multi viri fortes, et prope pars civitatis offensa est.: 

Cicero therefore had reason to fear, that the magnificence of Antony's 
shows would plead more powerfully for him, than all his labour and in- 
dustry in protecting the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens. And in 
fact we find, that though our orator's interest was superior, (for he was 
proclaimed first consul by all the centuries) yet Antony was the next to 
him in popularity, and obtained jointly with him the consulship, in pre- 
ference to all the other candidates, it appeared remarkably upon this 
occasion, how dear Cicero was to the Roman people. The method of 
choosing consuls was not by an open vote, but by a kind of ballot, or little 
tickets of wood, distributed to the citizens, with the names of the candi- 
dates severally inscribed upon each : but in Cicero's ca»e, the people were 
not contented with this secret and silent way of testifying their inclina- 
tions ; but before they came to any scrutiny, loudly and universally pro- 
claimed Cicero the first consul ; so that, as he himself declared in his 
speech to them after his election, he was not chosen by the votes of par- 
ticular citizens, but by the common suffrage of the city; nor declared by 
the voice of the crier,, but of the w 7 hole Roman people. He was the only 
new man who had obtained this sovereign dignity, or, as he exprefses it, had 
forced the entrenchments of the nobility for forty years past, from the first 
consulship of C. Marius ; and the only one likewise who had ever obtained 
it in his proper year, or without a repulse: for the nobles themselves, 
though always envious and desirous to deprefs him, yet out of regard to 
the dangers whick threatenedthe city from many quarters, and seemed 
ready to burst out into a iiame, began to think him the only man qualified 
to preserve the republic, and break the cabals of the desperate, by the vi- 
gour and prudence of his administration : for in cases of danger, as Sallust 
observes, pride and envy naturally subside, and yield the post of honour 
to virtue. 

(i9) Juris dicundi."] The praetors at Rome had different provinces as- 
signed them; some being appointed to take cognizance of private, others 
of public causes ; some to determine in civil, others in criminal matters. 
The pTeelor urbanus (and, as Lips i us thinks, the prtetor petegrinus) pre* 
sided in private causes, .and the other praetors in questions relating to 
crimes. The latter therefore were sometimes called qucesitcres, quia quce- 
vebant de crimine ; the firlt barely///.? dicebat. This was the lot of Murena, 
who was therefore city praetor, a grateful magistracy, and peculiarly ho- 
nourable at Rome ; he who was invested with it, being distinguished bv 
the title of prcelor honoratus. Here we must take notice of the difference 



245 

exhibited three solemn shows, was yet alarmed by the splendour 
of the games given by Antonius ; can you, who chanced to ex- 
hibit none, imagine that this silver scenery of Murena, which 
you so much ridicule, was of no prejudice to your cause? But 
let us suppose all the points in dispute between you equal ; that 
the accomplishments of the forum have no lefs merit than 
those of the field ; that the interest of the city voters is as great 
as that of the army ; that there is no difference between exhibit- 
ing the most magnificent shows, and no show at all : yet do 
you imagine, that in the exercise of the praetorship, there was 
no pre-eminence in his allotment over yours ? 

Sect. XX. His allotment was that of deciding causes, which 
all of us, your friends, wished to have been yours ; an allotment 
in which the importance of the charge conciliates glory, and the 
distribution of justice popularity; an allotment in which a wise 
praetor, like Murena, avoids offence by the equity of his deci- 
sions, and cultivates the good-will of the people by the lenity 
of his behaviour: a noble province, admirably calculated to 
smooth his way to the consulship, and in which the praise of 
his equity, probity, and affability, was crowned by the engaging 
exhibition of public shows. But what was your allotment ? a 
sad and savage inquiry into corruption : on the one side filled 
with tears and nastinefs, on the other with chains and evidences. 
Judges forced to sit on public trials, and detained against their 
inclination ; a scribe condemned, and the whole order alien- 
ated: the bounties of Sylla reversed: many brave men, and 
almost half the city disobliged : damages estimated with rigour : 

between jus dicere and judicare : the former relates to the praetor, and sig- 
nifies no more than the allowing an action, and granting judges for deter- 
mining the controversy ; the other is the proper office of the judges allowed 
by the praetor, and denotes the actual hearing and deciding of a caufe. 

(20) Qucestio peculates. ~] The inquifition of criminal matters belonged at 
first to the kings, and after the abb-rogation of their government, for some 
time, to the consuls : but being taken from them by the. Valerian law, it 
was conferred, as occssions happened, upon officers deputed by the people, 
with the title of qucesitores parricidii. But about the year of the city six 
hundred and four, the power was made perpetual, and appropriated to the 
praetors, by virtue of an order of the people at their annual election; the 
inquisition of such and such crimes being committed to such and such 
praetors. These crimes were such actions as tended either mediately, or 
immediately, to the prejudice of the state, and were forbid by the laws: 
as if any person had derogated from the hononr and majesty of the com- 
monwealth; had embezzled and put to ill uses the public money, or any 
treasure consecrated to religion; or had corrupted the people's votes in 
an election ; or had extorted contributions from the allies ; or received 
money in any judgment ; or had used any violent compulsion to amember 
of the commonwealth. These were termed erimiria majestatis , peculates, 
ambitivnis, repetendarum, and vis publicce. The allotment of iSulpicius 
was the question relating to public money, which Cicerd calls a disagree- 
able and hateful office, because the praetor was sometimes necefsitated to 
pafs very severe judgments, which involved whole families in sorrow and 
ruin. 



2-^6 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

lites severe irstimatae : cui placet, obliviscitur : cui dolet, me-* 
miriit. Postremo tu in provinciam ire noluisti; non pofsum id 
in te reprehendere, quod in raeipso et praetor et consul probavi : 
sed tamen L. Muraenae provincia multas bonas gratias cum op- 
tima existimatione attulit : habuit proficiscens delectum in Um- 
bria: dedit ci facultateni respub. liberalitatis; qua usus, multas 
sio, tnous, qua? municipiis Umbriae conficiuntur, adjunxit; ipse 
autem in Gallia, ut nostri homines desperatas jam pecunias exi- 
gerent, setyaitate diligentiaque perfecit. Tu interea Romae 
scilicet auncis pracsto fuisti, fateor : sed tamen illud cogita, 
norm ulloru in amicorum studia minui solere in eos, a quibus pro- 
vincias contemni intelligant. 

XXI. Et quoniam ostendi, judices, parem dignitatem ad con- 
sulates petitionem, disparem fortunam provincialium negotio- 
rum in Muraena, atque in Sulpicio fuifse; dicam jam apertius, 
in quo meus necefsarius fuerit inferior Servius: et ea dicam, 
vobis audientibus, amifso jam tempore, quae ipsi soli, re integra, 
saepe dixi. Petere consulatum nescire te, Servi, persacpe dixi : 
et in iis rebus ipsis, quas te magno et forti animo, et agere, et 
dicere videbam, tibi solitus sum dicere, magis te fortem sena- 
torem mini videri, quam sapientem candidatum. Primum ( 2I ) 
accuaandi terrores et minae quibus tu quotidie uti solebas, sunt 
fortis viri ; sed et populi opinionem a spe adipiscendi avertunt, 
et amicorum studia debilitant ; nescio quo pacto semper hoc fit : 
neque in uno aut altero animadversum est, sed jam in pluribus: 
simulatque candidatus accusationem meditari visas est, ut ho- 
norem desperafse videatur. Quid ergo ? acceptam injuriam 
persequi non placet? immo vehemeoter placet : sed aliud tem- 
pus est petendi, aliud prosequendi ; petitorem ego, praesertim 
consulates, magna spe, magno animo, magnis copiis in forum 
et in ca'mpum deduci volo ; non placet mihi inquisitio candidati, 
praenuntia repulsae: non testium potius, quam sufYragatorum 
comparatio: non minae magis, quam blanditisc : non declamatio 
potius, quam persalutatip : praesertim cum jam hoc novo more 
omnes fere domes omnium concursent, et ex vultu candidato- 
rum conjecturam faciant, quantum quisque animi et facultatis 
habere videatur. Videsne tu ilium tristem, demifsum ! jacet, 



(21) Accusavdi terrores et mince 1 Cicero here accuses Sulpicius of want 
of prudence in his manner of suing for the consulship. For by ctefpairing 
too hastily of succefs, and threatening his competitors with a prosecution, 
he cooled the zeal of his friends, who" began to think his cause in a decline 
ing way. For when a candidate has recourfe to threats, it is a sure sign he 
has little prospect of succeeding in the way of solicitation ; and the people^ 
unwilling to throw away their votes, choose rather to attach themselves to 
a more fortunate competitor.. 



JCICERO'S ORATIONS. 247 

they that are pleased, forget ; they that are hurt, remember. 
Last of all, you refused to go to your province. I cannot blame 
you for a conduct which I followed myself, both when praetor 
and consul : but neither ought I to omit, that Murena gained 
many friends and much reputation in his province. In his jour- 
ney thither, he made a levy in Umbria, where tiie republic gave 
him an opportunity of displaying his liberality ; of which he made 
so good an use, as to engage in his interest a great many tribes, 
which are composed out of the corporations of Umbria. When 
he arrived in person in Gaul, such was his equity and application, 
that he enabled our collectors to recover a great many desperate 
debts. You, meanwhile, I am ready to allow, was employed in 
the service of your friends at Rome : but suffer me to put yon 
in mind, that there are some friends very apt to cool in 
their regard towards those by whom they see provinces de- 
spised. 

Sect. XXI. And now; my lords, that I have shown Sulpicius 
and Murena to have been alike in point of dignity as candidates 
for the consulship, but unlike in the destination of their provin- 
cial concerns: I shall declare more plainly in what my friend 
Servius was inferior to the other ; and repeat that in your hear- 
ing, now the affair is over, which I often told himself in private, 
while the election was depending. I was frequently then wont 
to tell you, Servius, that you knew not how to make applica- 
tion for the consulship : and even in those very points, in which 
I beheld you act and speak with courage and magnanimity, I 
yet failed not to intimate, that in my opinion, you made rather 
a brave senator, than a wise candidate. First, the terrors and 
threats of an impeachment, of which you was every day so la- 
vish, sufficiently proclaim the man of spirit : but then they also 
abate among the people the hopes of a candidate's succefs, and 
weaken the zeal of his friends. I know not how, yet this is 
always the case : nor is it found to hold in one or two instances 
only, but in many, that as soon as a candidate discovers an in- 
clination to impeach, he is thought to despair of the honour to 
which he aspires. But how? would you have me lay aside all 
resentment of injuries ? Far from it : but there js a time for so- 
liciting, and a time for prosecuting. I would have a candidate, 
especially for the consulship, to appear in the forum, and in the 
field of Mars, with great hopes, a great spirit, and a great party. 
It looks not well when he is prying after matter for an impeach- 
ment; when he is procuring witnefses, instead of votes ; when he 
is threatening, instead of flattering ; when he is making declama- 
tions, instead of paying compliments ; especially as it is now be- 
come a custom for candidates to go the round of* all the electors, 
who, from their air and countenance, form a judgment of their 
hopes and interest. Did you observe how sad and dispirited 



248 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATIONES. 

difhdit, abjecit hastas. Serpit hie rumor : scis tu illam accusa- 
tionem cogitare ? inquirere in competitores ? testes quaerere } 
ahum faciatn, quoniam sibi hie ipse desper-at. Ejusrnodi candi- 
datorum amici intimi debihtantur, studia deponunt, ant testa- 
tain rem abjiciunt, aut suam operam et gratiam judicio et ac- 
cusatione reservant. 

XXII. Accedit eodem, ut etiam ipse candidatus totum ani- 
mum atque omnem coram, operam diligentiamque suam in pe- 
titione non poisit ponere.. Adjungitur enim aceusationis cogi- 
tatio, non parva res, sed nimirum omnium maxima. Magnum 
est enim te comparare ea, quibus pofsit hominem e civitate, 
prae,sertim non inopem, neque inrirmum, exturbare: quiet per 
se, et per suos, et vero etiam per alienos defendatur ; omnes 
enim ad.pericula propulsanda concurrimus: et qui non aperte 
inimici siimus, etiam alieniisimis, in capitis periculis, amiciisi- 
morum oificia et studia preestamus. Quare ego expeitus et pe- 
tendi, et deiendendi, et accusandi molestiam, sic intellexi ; in 
petendo studium else acerrimum, in defendendo officium, in ac- 
cusando.laborem. Itaque sic statuo, fieri- hullo modo poise, ut 
idem accusationem, et peti tionem consulatus diligenter adornet 
atque instruat; unum sustinere pauci pofsurrt, utrumque nemo. 
Tu cum te de curriculo petitionis denexiises, animumque ad 
accusandum transtuhfses, existimasti te utrique negotio satisfa- 
cerepofse? vehementer errasti; qui? enim dies fuir,posteaquam 
in istam accusandi denuntiationem ingrefsus es, quern tu non to- 
turn in ista ratione consumpseris ? 

XXIII. Legem ambitus flagitasti, quae tibi non deerat ; eiat 
enim severifsimc ( 12 ) scripta Calpurnia; gestus est mos et volun- 
tati et dignitati tua?. Sed tota ilia lex accusationem tuam, si ha- 
beres nocentem reum , tbrtai'se armaiset: petit ioni vero refragata 
est ; poena gravior in plebem tua voce eirlagitata est : commoti 
animi tenuiorum ; exsilium in nostrum ordinem : cone 



(22) Scripta Calpurnia.'] C. Calpurnius Pifo, who was consul the fame 
year with iVl. Giabrio, p'afsed a law against bribery and corruption, by 
\vhich the criminal was excluded from all public honours, and condemned 
in a certain fine. But this law appearing too mild to Sulpicius, he col 
another pai'sed during Cicero's consulship, by which it was enacted, thai 
thofe who sold their votes should be subject to a mulct, and that a candi 
date convicted of bribery should be banished for ten years. It likewise 
took away all pretences of absence on account of iilnefs, that the parfj 
impeached might not thereby have an opportunity of protracting or evad* 
ing his trial, borne explain 'this last article of the people in general. wh( 
they say were obliged to attend and give tiieir votes at the flection 
»ul under pain of a line. 



2 



249 

lie looked ? why be is quite abashed, lie desponds, be gives up 
the cause. Instantly the rumour creeps round. What! don't 
you know that he is meditating an impeachment ? that he is 
prying into the conduct of his competitors ? that he is searching 
after witneises? I'll give my interest to anothor; for this man 
evidently despairs of succefs. The nearest friends, of such can- 
didates are immediately damped : they lose all their zeal ; and 
either wholly give up a cause which they look upon as despe- 
rate, or reserve all their influence for the judgment and accusa- 
tion that is to ensue. 

Sect. XXII. To this we may add, that -the candidate himself 
cannot employ his whole spirit, care, attention, and application, 
towards the promoting his solicitation ; for his mind runs like- 
wise upon the impeachment, which, far from being a slight af- 
fair, is perhaps the most important of all others. It is no easy 
matter to furnish yourself proi>eriy for driving a man of wealth 
and interest out of the city ; one, who by himself, by his friends, 
nay, and even by strangers, is amply provided with all the 
means of defence. For we are all very ready to lend our as- 
sistance in repelling danger; and where uo declared enmity 
subsists, find ourselves prompted to perform the highest offices 
of friendship to the meerest strangers, when threatened with a 
capital indictment. Accordingly having learnt from experience 
the solicitude attending the function of a candidate, a defender, 
and an accuser, I find it to be this: that in a candidate there is 
required an afsiduous court, in a defender an anxious zeal, and 
in an aecuser an unremitting industry. I therefore take upon 
me to afsert, that it is impofsible for the same man to acquit 
himself with ability and addrefs, as a candidate for the consul- 
ship, and the manager of an impeachment Few people can 
support any one of these characters with dignity, but no man 
both. When you, Servius, quitted the track of a candidate, 
and turned your thoughts to the businefs of accusing, did you 
flatter yourself with being equal to both duties ? It was a great 
mistake if you did: for from the time that you profefsed your- 
self an accuser, say if so much as a single day palled, that was 
jaot wholly ingrofsed by the concerns of that office. 

Sect. XXIII. You urged the public for a law against bribery 
and corruption for which there seemed to be but little occasion, 
as the Calpurnian law was already very rigorous and severe. 
However, a proper regard was shown to your request and dig- 
nity. But that whole law, which perhaps would have strength- 
ened your accusation, had the impeached been guilty, was rather 
prejudicial to your demand of the consulship^ A heavier pe- 
nalty was extorted against the people. The poorer sort were 



250 M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

senatus postulationi tuae ; sed non libenter duriorem fortunse 
communi cohditionem, te auctore, constituit. Morbi excusa- 
tioni poena addita est : voluntas offensa multorum, quibus aut 
contra valetudinis commodum laborandum est, aut incommodo 
morbi etiam caeteri vitae fructus relinquendi ; quid ergo ? haec 
quis tulit ? is qui auctoritati senatus, voluntati tuae pajuit : de- 
nique is tulit, cui minime proderant. Quid ? ilia, quae mea 
gumma voluntate senatus frequens repudiavit, mediocriter adver- 
sata tibi efse existimas ? (* 3 ) confusionem suffragiorum flagitasti, 
propagationem legis Maniliae, acquationem gratiac, dignitatis, 
suffragiorum. Graviter homines honesti, atque in suis civitati- 
bus et municipiis.gratiosi tulerunt, a tali viro efee pugnatum, ut 
omnes et dignitatis et gratiae gradus tollerentur. Idem edititios 
judices efse voluisti, ut odia occulta civium, quae tacitis nunc 
discordiis continentur, in fortunas optimi cujusque erumperent. 
Haec omnia tibi accusandi viam muniebant, adipiscendi obsepi- 
ebant. Atque ex omnibus ilia plaga est injecta petitioni tuae, 
non tacente me, maxima : de qua ab homine ingeniosifsimo et 
copisifsimo, Hortensio, multa gravifsime dicta sunt: quo etiam 
mihi durior locus est dicendi datus : ut cum ante me et ille dix- 
ifset, et vir summa dignitate et diligentia, et facilitate dicendi, 
M. Crafsus, ego in extremo non partem aliquam agerem causae, 
sed de tota re dicerem, quod mihi videretur. Itaqae in iisdcm 
rebus fere versor, et, quod pofsum, judices, occurro vestras 
satietati. 

XXI V f Sed tamen, Servi, quam te securim putas injecifsc pe- 
titioni tuae, cum tu populum Romanum in enm mctum addux- 
isti, ut pertimesceret, ne consul Catilina ficret, dam tu aceusa- 
tionem comparares, deposits! atque abjecta petitione ! Etenim 
te inquirere vidcbant tristem ipsum : moestos amicos, observati- 
ones, testincationes, seductiones testiuni, secefeipnem subscrip- 
torum animadvertebant : quibus rebus ccrte ipse candidatorum 
vultus obscuriores videri sole.nt : Catilinam interea alacrcm atque 
laetum, stipatum choro juventutis, vullatum indicibus atque 
sicariis, mffatum cum spe militum, turn collega; mci, quem.id; 
modum dicebat 'ipse, promiisis, circumrluenre colonorum Aretj- 
norum et Fesulanorum exercitu; quam turbam cjibmiillimo 



(23) Confusionem suffragiorum fagitasti.~] I have already taken notice 
of, the great advantage which the distribution of the people into centuries 
gave to men oj property in Rome: an alteration of the manner of voting 
seems to be what Cicero here speaks of, and that Sulpicius solicited a law, 
that the votes of all the centuries should be gathered indiscriminately, so 
that the candidate should not know which century was for, or which against 



him, It would seem as if there had been a law of one Manlius to this 
$>o$e ? and that was abrogated, but now restored by Sulpicius. 






Cicero's "orations. 231 

alarmed. Exile was denounced against our order. The se- 
nate, indeed, yielded to your request: but it was not without 
a-eluctance, that in consequence of your importunity, they 
were brought to impose rigorous penalties upon those of a 
middling fortune. A punishment was annexed to ail excuses 
*)f illneis. This offended many, who were either obliged to 
abandon the consideration of their health, or for its sake relin- 
quish all the other advantages of life. But let me ask you, who 
proposed these laws? the man who was moved thereto by the 



authority of the senate, and your entreaties: in short, me man 
who had no expectation of advantage from them. Do you ima- 
gine that the proposal of yours, which the senate in a fall house 



rejected to my entire satisfaction, was not considerably preju- 
dicial to your cause? You strove to introduce a confusion of 
votes, a suspension of the Maniliari law, and to level all dis- 
tinctions of interest, (wwer, and dignity. Many persons of 
worth, and eminently considerable in their own cities and cor- 
porations, were much displeased that a man of your character 
should aim at abolishing all degrees of honour and merit. You 
was likewise for Impowering the prosecutor to nominate judges ; 
by which the secret animosities of citizens, which are now con- 
fined within the bounds of silent dislike, would have broke out 
against the fortunes of every worthy patriot. AH these regula- 
tions cleared the way to your impeachment, but obstructed your 
succefs as a candidate; and gave that mortal blow to your pre- 
tensions, which I was not wanting to warn you of. But the in- 
genious and eloquent Hortensius has already spoke fully and so- 
lidly to this point ; msOmuch that the province afsigned me is the . 
more difficult, because coming after him, and M. Crafsius,'aman 
of the greatest dignity, application, and eloquence, I am obliged; 
as last speaker, not to confine myself to any particular part of 
the charge, but to give my opinion of the whole matter. Thus 
am I obliged to run over almost the same heads, and in some 
measure, my lords, anticipate your judgment. 

Sect. XXIV. But what a mortal stab, Servius, did you give 
to your pretensions, when you raised that terror among the . 
people, of Catiline's being chosen consul, by dropping your 
solicitation, and busying yourself about the impeachment ! 
For they beheld you, with a' disconsolate air, collecting inform- 
ations : they saw the dejected looks of your friends, their pry~ 
irjjji their affidavits, their closeting witnelses, their caballing 
with solicitors: all which are apt to throw a gloom over the 
countenance of a candidate. Meanwhile they observed Cati- 
iirfc, gay arid cheerful, surrounded with a crowd of youno- 
men, encompafsed by informers and afsafsins, flushed with his 
hopes in the soldiery, and, as he pretended, with the promises 
of my colleague, -while a whole army of rustics from Arctium 



252 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ex genere (*<), distinguebant homines perculsi Syllani temporis 
calamitate. Vultus erat ipsius plenus furoris, oculi sceleris, 
sermo arrogantiae, sic ut ei jam exploratus, et domi conditus 
consulatus videretur. Muraenam contemnebat : Sulpicium ac- 
cusatorem suum numefabat, non competitorem : ei vim denurw 
tiabat: rei publico minabatur. 

XXV. Quibus rebus, qui timor bonis omnibus injectus sit, 
quantaque desperatio reipublicae, si ilie factus efset, nolite a me 
commoneri velle : yosmetipsi vobiscum recordamini ; ( 2S ) niemi* 
nistis enim cum illius nefarii gladiatoris voces percrebuifsent, 
quas habuifse in c'oncione domestica dieebatur, cum miserorum 
fidelem defensorem negafset inveniri pofse, nisi eum qui ipse 
miser efset: integrorum et fortunatorum promifsis saucios et 
miseros credere non opoitere: quarts qui consumpta replere, 
erepta recuperare vellent, spectareht quid ipse deberet, quid 
pafsideret, quid auderet : minime timidum, et valde calamito- 
sum efse oportere eum, qui efset futurus dux et signifer calamir 
tosum. Turn igitur, his rebus auditis, meministis fieri senatus- 
consultum, refercnte me, ne poster o- die comkia haberentur, ut 
de his rebus in senatu agere pofsemus- Itaque postridie fre T 
quenti senatu Catilinam excitavi, atqup eum de his rebus jufsi, 
si quid vellet, quae ad me allatec efsent, dicere. (* 6 ) Atqui ille ? 
ut semper fuit apertifsimus, r4on se purgavit, sed indicavit, at- 
que induit. Turn enim dixit, duo corpora efse reip. unmn de- 
bile, infirmo capite ; alteram firmum, sine capite ; huic, cum ita 
dese meritum efset, caput, se yivo, non defuturum. Conge- 
muit senatus frequens, neque tamen satis severe pro rei indigni- 
tate decrevit. Nam partim idco fortes in decernendo npn erant, 



(21) Difsimillimo ex genere."] The difsimilitude consisted chiefly in this, 
that the people of FesuLe and Arctium had been enriched by the spoils of 
the civil war conferred upon them by Sylla, these being colonies of the 
dictator'^ own planting Others again had been divested of their estates 
and* fortunes by Sylta, ?S satisfy their cravings of Irs veterans, to wkprn he 
had promised qn allotment of ;'lands. These too, in a view of recovering 
tlie-.pofsefsions they had been so unjustly deprived of, eagerly joined in the 
party of Catiline. * 

(25) Meministis enim.'] It is surprising that this quotation, which our 
very candid disinterested author gives us^ from Catiline's speech, is not to 
be found in Sailnst. S I will make 'no other remark upon it, than that the 
language he uses here was very natural to a man in Catiline's circumstan- 
ces; and, if theseuate and nobles had at that time insolently usurped upon 
the liberties, and ingrofsecj the properties of their fe}low citizens, very fair 
and plausible. 

(2(5) Atqui We, Xc'] VVe learn from Plutarch, that Cicero, on the very 
day of thecomitia, inforjned thc-senate of what he had heard' relating to 
Catiline's designs, and challenged the conspirator himself to answer to the 
charge he brought against him. Upon which Catiiine, believing there 
were many in the senate who wished well to the'cohsp'uacy, instead of en- 
deavouring to disguise his treason, openly said: Quid pecco, si dupfum ccr- 
porum, quorum alter um caput habeat, sed a-grrtm et pertivax; alterum sins 
>capite, sedmlidum et prcepctens ; huic me caput adjicio ? By the nrst body 4 



cicero's orations. 253 

and FeSulac were swarming round him : a motley crowd, and 
rendered the more conspicuous by the contrast of those who 
had Suffered by the proscriptions of Sylla. Thecountenance of 
Catiline himself was full of fury, his eyes of guilt, and his 
speech of arrogance , insomuch that he seemed already secure, 
nay, in actual pofsefsion of the consulship. He despised Mu- 
rena : he regarded Sulpicius, not as his competitor, but his ac- 
cuser ; he denounced vengeance against him, and threatened 
his country with ruin. 

Sect. XXV. Do not expect that I should put you in mind 
of the dread which this occasioned among all good men, and 
how desperate the condition of the republic would have been, 
had he succeeded in his demand of the consulship. Your own 
memory will help you to. this reflection. For doubtlefs you 
have not forgot the words which that infamous gladiator was 
universally known to have used in a meeting at his own house, 
when he affirmed, that the Avretched could no where hope to 
find a faithful and able defender, but in one wretched like them- 
selves : that citizens opprefsed with calamities and distrefses, 
ought never to trust to the promises of the prosperous and 
happy : that therefore such as were willing to repair their ex- 
hausted fortunes, and recover what had been taken from them, 
need only to consider how much he was involved, how little he 
pofsefsed, and what he dared to do : that the man who aimed 
at being a leader and protector of the unfortunate, ought indeed 
to be very miserable, but quite void of fear. When the report of 
this speech became public, you may remember, that upon my 
proposing the affair to the consideration of the senate, they 
thought proper to defer the afsembly for the election of con- 
suls, that they might have time to deliberate on an affair of so 
great importance. Accordingly the next day, in a full house^ 
I called upon Catiline, and commanded him to clear himself, if 
he could, as to those facts of which I had been informed. But 
he, who was always very open in those matters, without at r 
tetnpting to palliate his behaviour, rather owned and justified 
the charge. He told us, that there were two bodies in the re- 
public ; the one of them infirm, with a weak head; the other 
firm, without a head; which last had so well deserved of him, 
that it should never want a head while he lived. The whole 
body of the senate was heard to groan ; yet were their decrees 
no ways answerable in severity to the indignity of the insult : 
for many acted remifsly because they thought there was no 
danger, and others were held in awe by their fears. He then 
broke out of the senate with a triumphant joy, though he 
•■ •■ ' — — — ■ — . ' ■ ,' ■■ j '■ ■' '- ■■* '■ ' '""■">.■ • ■ 

he meant the senate, of which Cicero, as consul, was the head. By the 
second, the people, of which Jje .jiow declared himself ready to become th* 
head; 

R3 



254 ST* T. CICERONlS ORATIQNfiS, 

quia nihil timcbant, partim- quia timebant. Turn erupit e se* 
natu triumphans gaudio, queu* oronino vivum illinc exire non 
oportuerat : pnesertim cam idem ill a in eodera ordine pauei* 
diebus aMc, Catoui, fortiisimo viro, judicium min.iranti, ac de- 
nuntianti respondifset, si quod eiset in suas fortunas incendiuia 
exeitatuni, id sc non aqua sed ruin-a restincturum. 

XXVL Ilis turn. rel>u£ cemmotos, et quod homines jam. turn 
eonjuratos cum gladiis in campum deduci a Catilina sciebam, 
(>') descend! in camp um cum hrmifsimoprasidio fovtifsimorum 
tfirorum, et cum ilia lata insignique loriea y non quae me tegeret 
(eteuini sciebam CatilitKiin non latus, ant vent vein, sed caput 
et coiluin, solere petere) veruni ut omnes boni ammadverterent, 
et cum in metu et periculo consulem viderent, kl quod, est fac- 
tum, ad opem pncsidi unique meum concurrerent, Itaque cum 
te, Servi, remif^iorem in petendo putarent, Catilinam et spe, et 
cupiditate inilammatum viderent, omnes qui illam ab repub. 
pestein depellere cupiebant, ad ]\lura:namse statim contulerunt. 
Magna est autem comiths- eonsularibus repentina vplun.tatum. 
inclinatio ;; pnrsertim cum incur^biiit ad vimm bonum, et.mul- 
tis- aliis adjumentis petitionis ornatum. Qui cum hon^tifsimo- 
patre atqne majoribtts, modestiisima adolescentia T cla.riisiuui le- 
gatione, prytitura pre bat a in jure, grata, in niunere, oniata in 
provineifi, petlfset diligenter, et ita petifsct, ut neque minantt. 
cederet, neque cuiquam minaretur; huic mirandum e*t y magna 
adjuniento Catilinac subitum spem consulates adipiscendi fuiise r 
Nunc inihi tertius ille locus est orationis de ambitus criminibus, 
perpurgatus ab Lis qui ante me dixerunt, a me, qupniam ita 
M»rajna voluit, retractandus. Quo in loco, Posthumio i'amiliari 
meo, ornatiisimo .viro, de divi forum indiciis, et de deprehensis 
pecuniis : adolescenti ingenioso et bono, Ser. Sulpido, de 
( iH ) equitum centuriis : M.-Catoni,, homini in omni virtute ex- 
' cellenti, de ipsius aecusatione, de senatuscousulto, de repubr 
respqndebo. 

— — i » i . , 

_ 

;. ,(~7) Descendi m ear>ipTsm.~\ As Cicero, from the many daring declaration 
oi w Catiline^ had reason to suspect some violence was intended to his per- 
SoTfi, hethought fit to appear, in the field of Mars, attended by a band of 
young noblemen; and. that he might Imprint a sense of his- own and of the 
.public danger the more strongly, he. took care to throw back his gown in 
ilie view ot the .people, and discovered a shining breast-plate which he wore 
under it ; by which precaution, as he tokf Catiline afterwards to his face, 
he' prevented his design of killing both him and the competitors, for the 
Coffts-tdShTp, of" whom D. Junius Silahus aiid'L. "Liciriiws Murcna were de- 
clared'ccmsuls plect.. 

<£2ty,iRquiUw~i cew/wriwl] - Sulp1ci-us pretended tliat the centuries of Ro- 
man knights had been corrupted by Mjirena, whose soji-in-law, NattaU, 
had, it seenjs, "invited them to an entertainment. Here we are to observe, 
That Nonius Tullius having divided the whole Roman people ratp 
claftes, and these clafs'esintoan hundred and ninety-three centuries, ranked 
Uie knights in Ll\e first clafs, of which they compoied eighteen centuries. 



dlCEko's ORATIONS. 255 

oujajlit never to have been suffered to depart from it alive; espe- 
cially as he had declared a few days before in the same house, 
upon thebraVe Cato's threatening him with an impeachment, that 
if any flame should be excited in his fortunes, he would ex- 
tinguish it, not with water, but a general ruin. 

Sect. XXVI. Startled by these declarations, and because I 
knew that Catiline Was to bring a body of armed conspirators 
into the field of Mars, I likewise repaired thither with a strong 
guard of brave citizens, and that broad shining breast-plate, 
which was not so properly intended for defence (for Catiline, I 
knew, was not accustomed to aim at the side, or the belly, but 
at the head and neck) as to rouze the attention of the honest and 
worthy, that when they saw their consul in fear and danger, 
they might fly to his protection and afsistance, as accordingly 
happened. Therefore, Servius, when the public saw you abate? 
in the keerinefsof your solicitations, while Catiline appeared in=- 
flamed with eagernefs and hope, all who wished to repel that 
plague from the republic, immediately declared for Murena. 
This sudden turn of tlie inclinations of the people at consular 
elections is very strong, especially when it leans towards a 
worthy citizen, whose suit is backed with many other powerful 
recommendations. F<Jr when a candidate, distinguished by 
the merit of his fatherland ancestors, by his modest behaviour 



in his youth, by the fame he acquired as lieutenant-general, by 
a pr&Horship illustrious in the exercise of justice, grateful in its 
functions, and crowned with unspotted reputation in provincial 
command, petitioned earnestly for the consulship, and in such 
a manner as to be daunted by no menaces himself, and to be 
above using menace to others ; ought we to be surprised, if the 
sudden hope Catiline conceived of obtaining the consulship, dis- 
posed the people to unite immediately in such a man's favour ? 
But now the third head of accusation, relating to the crime of 
bribery, which has been already so fully cleared up by the 
gentlemen who spoke before me, must again be touched upon, 
in compliance with Murena's desire. And here I shall take 
occasion to answer what has been said by my accomplished 
friend Posthumius, touching an intended distributional' money 
among the people, and the seizure of it in the "hands of those 
with whom it was deposited, by the ingenious and worthy 
Servius Sulpicius, with regard to the centuries of Roman 
knights; and by M. Cato, a man adorned with every virtue, 
in relation to his own accusation, the (fecree of the senate, and 
the condition of the republic, 

B* 



256 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XXVII. Sed pauca, qua* meum aniinum repente moveruM, 
prius de L. Muncna^fortuna conquerar. Nam cam ssepe antea y 
judices, et ex aliorum miserris, et ex meis curis iaboribusque ' 
quotidianis, fortunatos eos homines judicar em,. qui remoti a stu- 
diis ambitionis, otium ac tranquillitatem vitae secuti sunt: turn 
verb in his L. Muruenae tantis tamque improvisis periculis ita 
sum ammo aifectus, . ut < non queum satis neque communem 
omnium nostrum conditionem, neque hujus even'tum fortunam- 
que miserari; qui primuni durn ex honoribus eontinuis tamilia.*, 
major unique suorum, unum ascendere gradum dignitatis cona- 
tus est, venit in periculum, ne et eaquse reiicta, et h*c qua; ab 
ipso parta sunt, amittat ; deinde propter studium novae laudis, 
in veteris fortune discri men adduciter \, quae cum sunt gravia, 
judiees, turn illud ace rbi 1st mum est, quod habet eos aecusatores, 
non qui odio immicitiarum ad accusandum, sed qui studio ac- 
cusandi ad inimicitias descenderent. Nam ut omittam Ser, 
Sulpicium, quern intelligo non injuria L/Muncna*, sed honoris 
contentione permotum ; accusat paternus amicus, Cn. Posthu- 
inius, vetus, ut ait ipse, vicinus, ac neceisarius, qui ne'cefsitudi- 
nis causas compluros protulit, simultatis nullam commemorare 
potuit: accusat Ser. Sulpieius, sodaiis nlii, cujus ingenio pa- 
terni omnes necefsarii munitiores else debebant : accusat M. Cato, 
qui quanquam a Murena nulla re unquam alienus fuit, tamen 
ea conditione nobis crat in hac civitate ntitus, ut ejus opes et 
ingenium prsesidio multis etiam alienifsimis, exitio vix cuiquam 
inimico else deberet. Keipondebo igitur Posthumio primuni, 
qui nescio quo pactb mibi videtur,* (* 9 ) .praetorius candidates in 
consularem, quasi desuito.rius. in. quadrigarum curriculum in- 
currere. Cujus compeikores, si nihil deliquerunt, dignitati 
eorum concefsit, cum pctere destitit: -sin autem Corum aiiquis 
iargitus ; est,- expetondus amicus est, qui alienara potius inju- 
nam, qua.ni suam persequatur. 

XXVITI. Venio nunc ad M. Catpuem, quad est firnmmen- 
tum ac robur tdtius accusat fonis-; qui tameu ita. gravis estaccu- 
sator et velremens, ut niulto Hingis ems auctontatem quam 

. (29) Prattorius candidates in constdaran, quasi dcsultorius in quudrigarum 
curriculum i?icurrere.~} This metaphor is taken -from the dexterity of those 
^ho. in horse-races could vau.lt from one horse to another, without inter- 
rupting- the.course. .'lor Po.s.thumius, a caudidate-for the pnetorship, had 
quitted his pretensions to that dignity, in the view of impeaching Murena, 
a candidate far the consulship. This was truly matter of surprise. For 
why did he not rather prosecute some of his fellow-candidates? .did he ex- 
pect to see this task undertaken by some friend;" who. was to-entangle him- 
self in avenging another's injuries V This, says Cicero,- is.as if one of your 
Vya.ultersy instead of jumping from one horse upon another, should spring 
into a chariot and four, and thereby change the course from a horse to a 
ehaiiot-race.- ViVy aHudes' to theseVk7///orz7, or vaolters, in his thirty- 
third book, when he says, Desultorum in modo binos trahentibus ajnvs inter 
Gcerrimam stepe pugnarn in rccentem equuni ex jefso armatis transultare 
moris erui. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 257 

Sect. XXVII. But first let me premise somewhat by way of 
complaint, touching the present hard fortune of Murena, which 
has made a very sudden imprefsion upon my mind. I have 
often before this, my lords, from a consideration of the miseries 
of others, and the daily toils and cares to which I am exposed, 
been tempted to think those the happiest men, who, remote 
from the pursuits of ambition, courted ease and tranquillity of 
life: but now that I behold the great and unexpected dangers 
which threaten Murena, I am so struck with concern, that I 
cannot sufficiently bemoan our common lot, nor the fate and 
fortune of my friend ; who, upon his very first attempt to mount 
one step above those honours, which have been so long in the 
pofseision of his family and ancestors, saw himself in danger, 
not only of losing all he inherited from them, but even the ac- 
quisitions of his own industry, insomuch that his pursuit of new 
praise threatens the entire subversion of his former fortune. 
These, my lords, are real hardships : but what is still more 
afflicting in the case of my friend ; his accusers have not been 
prompted to this impeachment by any motives of personal re- 
sentment, ' but have been drawn into personal resentment by 
their zeal for impeaching. For, not to mention Servius Sulpicius, 
whose animosity against Murena flows not from any injurious 
treatment, but a dispute about preference ; he is accused by 
Cn. Posthumius, his father's friend, who owns him for his old 
acquaintance and intimate companion; and who afsigns many 
reasons why he should love Murena, but can offer none to 
justify his hatred: he is accused by Servius Sulpicius, the com- 
panion of his son, whose amiable character should strengthen 
the attachment of his father's friends: he is accused by M. Cato, 
who not only has no particular ground of quarrel with Murena, 
but seems born to employ his interest and talents for the pro- 
tection of the meerest strangers, without suffering them to 
prove destructive even to his greatest enemy. I will there- 
fore first reply to Posthumius, * who, though a solicitor for 
the pratorship, seems to me, I can't tell why, to run full 
against a consular candidate, as if a vaulter on horseaack 
should leap into the seat of a chariot. If his competitors were 
no way in fault, he has only yielded to their dignity, in drop- 
ping his pretensions : but if any of them has bribed, a friend 
must be sought for, to prosecute another's injuries rather than 
his own . 

Sect. XXVIII. I come now to M. Cato's charge, which is 
the prop and strength of this whole impeachment; and whose 
zeal and reputation carry so much weight, that 1 am more afraid 
of his authority, than his accusation. Ami here, my lords, give 



253 . m. r> cictzoms OKAf IOK£$. 

creminationem pcrtimescam. In quo ego aceusatofe, judice-s? 
primutn illud depfecabor, ne quid L. Mursen£ dignitas iliin^^ 
ne quid exspcctatio tribunatus, ne quid totrus vitae spiendor 
et gravitas noceat ; denique ne ea soli huic obsint bona 
M. Catonis, qua? die adeptus est, ut multis prodese pofset. 
Bis consul fuerat P. Africanus, et duos tei*rores hujus imperii, 
CartliaginemNiunajtiamque deleverat, cum accusavit L.Cottani. 
Erat in eo summa eloquentia, summa fides, summa integritas, 
atictoritas tanta, quanta in ipso imperio populi Roman'i, quod 
illius opera ten ebatur. Ssepe hoe iriajores natu ilieere aiidivi, 
banc accusatoris eximiam dignitatem plurimum L* Cottte pro- 
faifee. Noluerunt sapientiisimi homines, qiii turn rem illam 
judicabant, ita qnemquam cadere in judicio, ut nimiis adver- 
sarii vinous abjectus videretur. Quid ? ( J0 ) Servium Gaibam 
(rkcm traditum memoriae est) n on tie proavo tub-, fortifsimo atque 
florentifsimo viro, M. Catoni, incumbenti ad ejus perniciem po- 
ptdus Romanus eripuit ? Semper in hac civitate nimis magnis 
aecusatorum opibus et populus uni versus, et sapientes ac mul- 
tum in posterum prospieientes judices restiterunt. Nolo accu- 
sator in judicium potentiam afferat, non vim majorem aliquam, 
non auetoritatem excelientem, non nimiam gmtiam : valeant 
hate omnia ad salutem innoeentium, ad opem impotentium, ad 
auxiliuin cilamitosorum: in periculo vero,etin pernicie civium 
rdpudientur. Nam si quis hoc forte dicet, Catoncm descensu- 
rum ad aecusandum non fuife, nisi prins de causa judicafset : 
iniquam legem, judices, et miseram conditionem instituet peri- 
cuhs hominnm, si existimabit judicium accusatoris in reum pro 
aliquo pr^judicio valere opoVtere. 

XXIX. Ego tunm consilium, Cato, propter singulare animi 
meideiua virtute judicium, vituperare non audeo: ncrmulla 
in re forsitan confirmare, et - leviter emendare pofsirn. NON 
MULT A' PECCAS, inqait i lie fortifsimo viro senior m agister : 
SED, 81 PECCAS, TE &EGERE POSSUM. At ego \e ve- 
rifsime di-xerim peccare nihil, neque ulla in re te else hujus- 
modi, ut corrigendus potius quam leviter inftectendus efsc vi- 
deare. Finxit enimte ipsa natura ad honestatem, gravitatem, 
temperantiam, magnitudinem animi, jnstitiam, ad omnes deni- 
que virtutes, magnum bominem et excelsum ; accelsit his tot 
doctrma non modcrata mec mitis, sed-; ut'mihi videtur, paulo 



(30) Servium Gaibam?] >Galba "being accused befofe ah' a^ehlbly of the 
people, by Libo, a tribune of the commons, for having, while prsetor in 
JSpain, contrary to the public faith given, treacherously fallen upon the 
enemy, and put a great number of them to the sword ; offered at no other 
defence, than by producing his children before the people, and recommend- 
ing them to the protection and campafsion of the afsembly. This had so 
powerful an effect towards mitigating the public resentment, tbat he was 
acquitted of the crime laid to hrs charge. 



259- 

me leave ta intreat, that neither the dignity of the accuser, nor 
the expectations conceived of his triouneship, nor the merit 
and lustre of his whole character, may be of any prejudice jto 
Murena on this occasion: nor let those many gdod qualities of 
M. Cato, which he poiseises lor the benefit of mankind, prove 
hurtful' to him alone. Publius African us had been twice con- 
sul, and demolished Carthage and Numantia, those two great 
terrors of the Roman empire, when he accused L. Cotto. life 
was pofsefsed of the most consummate eloquence, the most un- 
tainted honour, and the most unblemished integrity; and 
authority was equal to that of the whole empire of the Roman 
people, .which was supported chiefly by his services. And yet 
I have often heard people of advanced age declare, that 
eminent merit of the accuser was of the highest servic 
L. Gotta. For the judges in that cause, who were men of the 
most distinguished prudence, thought it dangerous to leave any 
room to suspect that the criminal had been borne down by 
superior weight of his adversary. Did not the people of Rome 
rescue Sergius Galba (for so tradition informs us) from the hands 
of your great-grandfather, M. Cato, a brave and illustrious citi- 
zen, who was bent upon his destruction? It appears in the 
history of this state, that the people in general, and all wiste 
judges, who had the good of posterity in view, have ever been 
jealous of the power and interest of an accuser. Llike not to 
see an impeacher appear in court with an overbearing power, 
with superior interest, with a prevailing authority, and too ex- 
tensive a credit. Let all these advantages prevail, for the safety 
of the innocent, the protection of the helplefs, and the relief of 
the miserable: but let their influence be repelled from the dan- 
gers and destruction of citizens. For if any one should say, 
that Cato would not have taken the pains to accuse, if he had 
not been afsured of the crime, he establishes a very unjust law 
to men in distrefs* by making the judgment of an accuser to be 
considered as a .. prejudice, or previous condemnation of the 
criminal. 

. Sect. XXIX. So great is the opinion I have of your virtue, 
Cato, that I dare: not presume to censure your eonduct: in 
some instances, perhaps, I might be able- a little to polish and ' 
amend it. Says the aged monitor to his brave pupil, You are 
not wrong in many things, ; but if you are, I knozv hew- to set you 
right. But lean with great truth say of ycu, that you are 
npver in fault, nor at any time so far deviate from what is right, 
as to stand in need rather of correction, than a gen tic admoni- 
tion. For nature herieJf has formed you to honour, wisdom, 
temperance,, magnanimity, justice; in short, to all the virtues 
becoming a great and an excellent man. To all these you have 
added a temper and discipline, not mild and flexible, but, as 
appears to mey rather rougher and more intractable than either 



260 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

asperior et durior, quam aut Veritas aut natura pafeiatur. Et 
quoniam non est nobis haec oratio habenda, aut cum imperita 
multitudine, aut in aliquo conventu agrestium, audacius pauib 
de stud lis human itatis, quae et mini et vobis nota et jucunda 
sunt, disputabo. In M. Catone, judices, haec bona, quae vide- 
mus divina et egregia, ipsius scitote efse propria: quae nonnun- 
quam requirimus, ea sunt omnia non a. natura, sed a. magistro. 
Fuit enim quidem summo ingenio vir, Zeno, cujus inventorum 
amuli Stoici nominantur. Hujus sententiae sunt et pracepta 
ejusmodi: Sapientein gratia nunquam moveri, nunquam cujus- 
quam delicto agnoscere ; ( 3l ) neminem misericordem efse, nisi 
stultum et levem ; viri else neque exorari, neque placaji ; solos 
sapientes efse, si distortifsimi sint, formosos; si mendicifsimi, 
divites; si servitutem serviant, reges: nos autem, qui sapientes 
non sumus, fugitives, exsules, hostes, insanos denique efse di- 
cunt ; omnia peccata efse paria ; omne delictum scelus efse ne- 
farium; nee minus delinquere eum, qui gallum gallinaceum, 
cum opus non fuerit, quam eum, qui patrem suffocaverit : sa- 
pientem nihil opinari, nullius rei poenitere, nulla in re falii, 
sententiam mutare nunquam. 

XXX. Haec homo ingeniosifsimus, M. Cato, auctoribus eru- 
ditifsimis inductus, arripuit; neque disputandi causa, ut magna 
pars, sed ita vivendi. Petunt aliquid publicani ? cave quid- 
quam habeat momenti gratia. Supplices aliqui veniunt misen 
et calamitosi ? sceleratus et nefarius fueris, si quidquam miseri- 
cordia adductus feceris. Fatetur aliquis se peccafse, et ejus 
delicti veniam petit ? nefarium est fachms ignoscere. At leve 
delictum est? omnia peccata sunt paria. Dixisti quippiam ? 
fixum et statutum est. Non re ductus es, sed opinione ? sapiens 
nihil opinatur. Errasti aliqua, in re ? maledici putat. Haec 
ex discipline nobis ilia sunt. ( 3i ) Dixi in senatu, me nomen 
consularis condidati delaturum : iratus dixisti ; nunquam, 



(31) Ne?nine?7i misericordem efse nisi stidturn et leiem.~\ Compafsion, 
according to the definition given of it by the Stoics, was a certain disease of 
the mind, arising from a contemplation of the misery of others labouring 
under any misfortune. A man therefore, susceptible of this feeling, was by 
them considered as weak, unsteady, and of a mean soul, incapable of 
vigorous designs. Hence Seneca, in his epistle to Lucilius, thus exprefses 
himself: Stultilia est, cui nihil constat, nihil din placet: that man may de- 
servedly be termed a fool, who discovers no consistency in his behaviour, 
nor stead inefs in his attachments. 

(32) Dixi in senatu me nomen consularis candidati delaturum ] "VY hat Cicero 
observes here, could not fail of contributing greatly to lci»en the charge 
against Murena. Cato accuses him, not that in fact lie had done any thing 
contrary to law, but because he had said in the senate, that he was resolved 
to impeach some consular candidate. Amy other person not infected with 
the obstinacy of Stoicism, would have made no scruple to own that he had 
txprefted himself so in anger, and therefore now chose to drop his design. 
But such an acknowledgment was b} no means to be expected froift Cato, 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 261 

nature or reason require. And because this speech is not ad- 
dressed to an illiterate multitude, or an afsembly of rustics, give 
me leave to enlarge a little with regard to these politer studies 
which are so well known and grateful both to you and me. 
Know then, my lords, that those divine and admirable qualities 
which we discern in Cato, spring truly and properly from him- 
self: but that sometimes he appears to be blemished with defects, 
is not the fault of his nature, but of education. For there was 
a man of a sublime genius, named Zeno, whose disciples and 
followers are called Stoics. His sentiments and tenets are: that 
a wise man aught never to be influenced by favour, nor ever to 
pardon an offence; that it is an argument of weaknefs and folly, 
to be softened by sentiments of compafsion ; that a truly manly 
character is equally inaccefsible to entreaties and prayers; that 
the wise man alone is beautiful, however distorted in appear- 
ance; that he alone is rich, though surrounded with the most 
abject poverty; and that in the most despicable state of slaver v, 
he only is a king: that we again, who are not entitled to the 
prize of wisdom, are fugitive^ exiles, enemies, and, in short, 
madmen; that all crimes are equal; that every offence is a 
mortal sin ; that he who smothers a cock, without necefsity, is 
no lets guilty than the man who smothers his father: that the 
wise man never doubts, never repents, is never deceived, and 
never changes his mind. 

Sect. XXX. These are the principles which the ingenious 
M. Cato, induced by the reputation of the inventor and his fol- 
lowers, has thought proper to adopt; not for show and dispu- 
tation, as is often the case, but to serve as standing rules of 
behaviour. Do the farmers of the revenue petition for some 
abatement ? take care that nothing be done merely from a prin- 
ciple of favour. Are you addrefsed in suppliant terms by some 
people overwhelmed with misery and distrefs? you are in the 
highest degree blameable and guilty, if you give the least ear 
to the dictates of compafsion. Does a man acknowledge his 
fault, and humbly sue for pardon ? it were a crime of the deep- 
est \}yo. to forgive. But is it a slight offence ? all faults are alike. 
Have you once said a thing ? it is fixed and unalterable. But 
3'ou did not decide in the matter, you only gave your opinion ? 
a wise man has no opinion. Does any one pretend you have 
been mistaken ? this is construed into the highest affront. 'Tis 
to these, doctrines that we are indebted for the present prosecu- 
tion. I said in the senate, that I would impeach one of the 
consular candidates. But you was in a pafsion when you said 



who would thereby seem to deviate from the gravity and firmnefs of a wise 
man. Murena therefore must be impeached, because the Stoics thought 
anger inconsistent with the character of a wiseman, and Cato claimed that 
character as belonging to himself. 



M. T. CIGERONIS OR.ATIONES. 

inquit, sapiens irascitur. At temporis causa : improbi, inquit, 

koiuinis est mendacio fallere; mutare sententiam, turpe est; 

exorari, seelus; misereri, flagitium. Nostri autem illi (fatebor 

C :lo, me quoqu« in adolescentia diffisum ingenio meo 

; adjumenta doctrinal) ; nostri, inquam, illi a Platone et 

tele, moderati homines, et temperati, aiunt, apud sapiens 

uere aliquando. gratiam ; viri boni efse misereri ; distincta 

a else delict orum, et dispares poenas; efse apud hominem 

.litem ignoscendi locum; ipsum sapientem sa?pe aliquid 

;i, quod nesciat; irasci nonnunquam ; exorari eundem, et 

;.'.A-,ai; qnod dixent, interdum, si ita rectius sit, mutare; de 

u-otentia decedere aliquando; omnes virtutes mediocritate qua- 

i else moderatas. 

XXXI. Hos ad magistros si qua te fortuna, Cato, cum ist& 

it detulifset ; noii tu quidem vir melior efses, nee fortior, 

■maperantior, nee justior (neque enim efsepotes), sed paular 

:itatem propensior ; non accusares nullis adductis immici- 

ti>Sj nulla lacefsitus. inj una, prudentifsimum hominem, summa 

ue atque hooestate prajditum : putares, cum in ejusdeni 

ar>r : cu toclia, te atque L. Muramam fortuna posuifset, aliquo 

t§, cum hoc reipub. vinculo efse conjunctum; quod atrociter in 

\ dixisti-, aut non dixifses, aut seposuifses, aut mitiorem 

com interpretarcre. Ac te ipsum, quantum ego opinione 

ror, nunc et animi quodam impetu concitatum, et vi na- 

atque ingenii elatnm, et recentibus praeceptorum studiis 

i: gran te m jam usns rlectet, dies leniet, atas mitigabit. Eter 

rum isti ipsi niihi videntur vestri praceeptores et virtutis magis- 

In ( u ) fines otriciorimi paulolongius- quam natura vel'let, protiw 

liise; ut, cum ad ultinium animo contendifsemus, ibi tamen, 

ubd oportet, consisteremus. Nihil ignoveris: immo aliquid, 

noft omnia. Nihil gratia* causa feceris: immo~resistitio gratia^, 

coin ofrieium et tides postulabunt. Misericordia commotus ne 



, (33) Fares' oJJicioruniJ] By tliis we are to" understand the extreme and ul- 
timate point, as it were of duty ; what the Greeks denoted by the word 
tsMb*, The metaphor is taken horn the boundaries of lands, which serve 
to divide and mark- their proper limits. Cicero here insinuates, that the 
Stoics had extended the bounds of virtue beyond what the nature of things 
would allow, placing the ultimate perfection of ^oodnefs in a certain 
rigour and inflexible" severity, that exceeded the reach and' condition of 
human nature. Quando e/ii?n, says Gamerarius, ad iltud rectum, quod ipsi 
xdEtiaficapto. pencnictur, aid qua- hujus crit us ur patio in convictuet consuctu- 
diiit ' homi)ium? Fuifsz igitur hoc concilium illorwn Cicero putat, non quod 
perveniri ad t ant am perjeciionem pofse crederent, fed ut annitentes precede- 
rent lons:ius. • 2 



CI.C£RQ r S ORATIONS. 2Gg 




but a rogue will deceive by 
is shameful; to yield to prayers and entreaties, a crime; and 
to be eotnpafsionate, a scandalous weaknefs. But the masters 
that ' followed (tor I will own to you, Cfctp, that in my youth, 
distrusting my own capacity, I too sought afsi stance from 
learnmo), the masters, I say," that I followed, who had formed 
themselves upon the principles of Plato and Aristotle, and pro- 
fefsed a more moderate and reasonable philosophy, tell me, 
that a wise man is sometimes swayed by affection ; that com- 
panion is essential to the character of a good man ; that faults 
differ in kind and degree, and ought therefore to differ also in 
respect to punishment; that steadinefs is not inconsistent with a 
disposition to forgive; that the sage frequently contents him- 
self with opinions, where he finds it impossible to arrive at ab- 
solute certainty; that he is sometimes liable to anger; that he 
may be softened and appeased ; that he scruples not to depart 
froin what he has said, where reason prompts him so to do; 
that he sometimes changes his mind ; and that all virtue coitslsti 
in a certain mediocrity. 

Sect. XXXI. Had it been your fortune, Cato, with that dis- 
position you inherit from nature, to have studied under masters 
like these, you would not, indeed, have been a better, a bolder, 
a more temperate; or a juster man, for that were impofsible: 
but you would have been a little more inclinable to gentlenefs. 
You would not, without either injury or provocation, have ac- 
cused the most modest man upon earth, and one eminent for 
his merit and dignity : you would have thought, as fortune 
had destined you both to magistracies the same year, that 
there w:as a sort of political relation subsisting between you: 
and as to the invectives you threw out against him in the senate, 
you either would have suppressed them altogether, or put 
them oil" till another time, or at least considerably softened 
their asperity. But, as far as I am able to judge, experience will 
bend, age mitigate, and length of time qualify that impetuosity . 
of spirit, that predominant force of, nature and genius, which 
at present, through the recent imprefsions of philosophy, hurry 
you on to a kind of savage and stubborn virtue. For in my 
opinion, your teachers and profefsors of wisdom have stretched 
the bounds of moral duty rather beyond what nature requires. 
Our desires, indeed, should prompt us to aim at the highest 
perfection; yet still prudence must determine where it will be 
proper to stop. You are for pardoning nothing. Many things, 
it must be owned, are without the reach of pardon, yet some 
at least have a reasonable claim. You utterly disclaim the in-- 
jluence of favour or affection. By all means stifle these cmo- 



264 ' M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sis: etiam, in difsolvenda severitate; sed tamen est Jaus aliqua 
humanitatis. In sententia permaneto : vero, nisi sententia alia 
vicent melior. Hujuscemodi Scipio ilte fuit, quern non poeni- 
tcbat facere idem, quod tu: habere eruditiGimum hominem, et 
pene divinura domi: cujus oratione et pracceptis, quanquam 
erant eadem ista quos te delectant, tamen asperior non est fac- 
tum, sed, ut aceepi a sensibus, lenisimus. Quis vero C. La;lio 
comior? quisjucundior,eodem ex studio isto? quis illo gravior? 
sapientior? (H) Pofsum de L. Pinllipo, de C. Gallo dicere hac 
eadem: sed te domum jam deducam tuam. Quemquamne ex- 
lstimas Catonc proavo tuo commodiorem, comiorem, modem- 
tiorem furfse ad omnem rationem humanitatis f de cujus prse&> 
tanti virtute cuin vere graviterque diceres, domesticum te ha- 
bere dixisti exemplum ad imitandum. Est illud quidem exem- 
plum tibi proposituna domi: sed tamen naturae similitudo illius 
ad te magis, qui ab illp ortus es, quam ad unumquemquc nos- 
trum pervemre potuit : ad imitandum vero tarp mihi propositum 
exemplar illud est, quam tibi. Sed si "illius comitatcm ct tacili- 
tatem tuac gravitati .^evuritatiquc adsperseris, non ista quidem 
erunt melior qua- nunc sunt optima, sed certe condita jucun- 
dius. 

XXXII. Quarc, ut ad id quod institui revertar, tolle mihi u 
causa nomen Catonis: remove, ac pratennitte auctoritatem, 
qua) in judiciis aut nihil valere, aut ad salutem debet 
congredere mecum criminiluis ipsis. Quid accu juij 

afters in judicium r quid argm>r Ambitum accusas ? non de- 
fendo. Me reprehcudis, (mod idem defendam, quod lege puni- 
verim ? punivi ambitum, non innocentiam : ambittun vero ipsinn 
veJ tecum aeousabo, si voles. Dixisti senatusconsultum, me 
referent®, else factum. Si merccde corrupt^ obviate 
datis li'sent, si conducti sectaremur, si i^l.idiatoribus vulgo lo- 
cus tributim, et item pr.mdia si vulgo etWnt data ; eont: 
Oalpurniam lactum vidcri. .Ergo ita senatus jiui; r.i 

legem facta hac videri, si facta suit: decenut, quod nihil opus 
est, dum candidatis moreni gerit. Non factum sit, neene, vehe- 



(34) Pofsum de L.Phillippo ] As Manu 4 ius strongly contends that somi 
error must have crept in here, 1 shall transcribe his whole note upon 
parage, for the satisfaction of the curious reader: * Locus unus ex iis, qui- 
' bus, contra veteres libros, conjecturam libenter sequor. Quit enim 
' toria? peiitus, de L. Philo, non probabit ri .:n de L. Philippe ; 

' Piiilus docirina, et sapientia clams: itaque conjungiturj item ut hie,', 
4 Scipione, l/.elio, Catone, in oratione pro Arch:.; 
mero, quart pat res nostri ciderimt, divmum komimtm . 
C.Lalium, L.FuriuDi, modestijsimos homim nentifiimot 

Jortifsimum xirum, et ittis etifsimum M. Caioncm »'//.. 

' :mc et aliis in lot is. At de ll Philippo. tanquam sapiente, et docto i 
' loquitur historian' 1 cannot, however, but observe here, in opposition to 

above remark of Mamit his, that Cicero, in his Brutus, speaks • 
Lippus N as a man perfectly skilled in the Greek teaming. 



265 

tions, where honour and duty require you so to do. You think 
it criminal to yield to the dictates of compafsion : it is so in cases 
that require severity; but on many occasions humanity is 
praise- worthy . Persevere in your resolutions. True ; unlefs 
some better resolution offers upon a clearer view of things. 
Such were the sentiments of the great Scipio ; who, like you, 
was not ashamed torkeep at his house a man of profound learn- 
ing, and almost approaching to divinity : whose precepts and 
conversation, though the same with tiiose which you so much 
admire, were yet so far from rendering him untractable, that, 
as I have learnt from some of his contemporaries, he was the 
gentlest of aril' men." Who was more affable, who more agree- 
able than C. Lselius, though a follower of the same philosophy; 
At the same time, who was there, that equalled him in weight 
and wisdom ? I might say the -same of L. Philippus, and C, Gal- 
Jus ; but let me now lead you into your own family. Do you 
believe that your great-grandfather, Cato, fell short of any man 
in affability, politenefs, complaisance, and the most extensive 
humanity: accordingly, when you spoke so fully and feelingly 
of his eminent virtues, you told us that you had a domestic mo- 
del for your imitation. He is indeed an unexceptionable mo- 
del ; but the similarity of genius may be more conspicuous in 
you j who are so nearly allied to him by descent ; yet still is he 
no lefs an example for my imitation than yours. But were you 
to temper your austerity and gravity, with his affability and po- 
litenefs; it would not indeed add to the excellency of your vir- 
tue, which is already perfect ; but it would at least, by a proper 
seasoning, render it more agreeable. 

Sect. XXXII. To return then to the point in question, away 
with the name of Cato from this cause ; think no more of an 
authority which in a court of justice ought to avail nothing, or 
at least only to save. Join ifsuc with me upon the crimes them- 
selves. What is your accusation, Cato? what do you charge 
him with before the judges? upon what does the indictment 
turn ? Do you impeach him of corruption ? it is a crime that 
admits of no defence. You blame me for defending a cause 
which falls under the censure of my own law. That law was 
made against corruption, not against innocence ; nor is corrup- 
tion lefs criminal in my eyes, than in yours. You tell me, that 
a decree pafsed in the senate at my instance, declaring it an in- 
fringement of the Calpumian law, for candidates to procure at- 
tendants and followers by distributing money, by exhibiting 
shows of gladiators, or entertaining the populace with dinners. 
The senate then judges these things, if done, to be contrary to 
law : but where a candidate yields exact obedience, then no- 
thing is decreed against him. The great question therefore is, 

S 



266 M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

menter quaeritur ; si factum sit, quin contra legem sit, dubitapa 
nemo potest. Est igitur ridictilum, quod est 'dubium, id relin- 
quere incertum ; quod nerajni dubium potest else, id judicare. 
Atque id decernitur ; omnibus postulantibus candidatis : tit ex 
S. C. neque cujus intersitj neque contra quern sit, inteiiigi pofsit. 
Quare doce, a L. Mursena ilia efse commifsa : turn egomet tibi 
contra legem commifsa efse. concectam. 

XXXIII. ( 35 ) Multi obviam prodierjikl rcvincia dece- 
denti, consnlatum petenti; solet fieri ; eccui au.tem no proditur 
revertenti ? quae fait ista multitude ? Primum, si tibi istam ra- 
tionem non pofsum reddere, quid habet admirationis, tali viro 
advenienti, candidate consnlari, obviam proline multos? quod 
nisi efset factum, magis mirandum yideretur. Quid si etiam 
illud addam, quod a consuetudine. non abborret, rogatos else 
multos ; num aut cfimmosum sit aut mirandum, qua in civitate 
rogati infimorum hominum filios prope de nocte ex ultima ssepe 
nrbe deductum venire soleamus, in ea non efse gravatos homi- 
nes prodire bora teytia in campum Martium, praesertim talis 
viri nomine rogatos ? Quid, si omnes societates venerunt, qua- 
rum ex nurnero multi hie sedent judiccs ? quid, si multi homi- 
nes nostro ordinis honestifsimi ? quid, si ilia ofheiosifsima, quae 
neminem patitur non honeste in urbem introire, tota natio can- 
didatorum ? si denique ipse accusator noster Postbumius obviam 
cum bene magna caterva sua venit ; quid habet ista multitude* 
admirationis ? omitto clientes, vicinos, tribules, exercftum totum 
Luculli, qui ad triumpbum per eos dies venerat ; hoc dico, fre- 
quentiam in isto officio gratuitam, non modo dignitati ullius un- 
quam, sed ne voluntati quidem deiuifse. At sectabantnr, multi. 
jppce, mercede ; concedam efse crimen : hoc quidem remote, 
quid reprehendis ? 

XXXIV. Quid opus est, inquit, sectatoribus ? a me tu id 
quxris, quid opus sit eo, quo semper usi sumus ? Homines te- 
nues unum habent in nostrum ordinem aut promerendi aut pro- 
fercruii beneiicti locum, banc in nostris petitionibus opcram, 
atque affectationem ; neque enim fieri potest, neque postulan- 



(35) Mulli obviam prodierunt rogatos efse miiUosVl Cicero here pro- 
duces. the arguments offered by Cato, to prove that Miirena had acted 
contrary to the laws. First, a' great number of people bad gone to meet 
Murena on his return tooRome. . But Cicero observes, that there could be 
no reason to suppose from thence they were corrupted* since the thh 
customary, and a piece of respect always paid to governors of pro. 
who had 'distinguished themselves by their merit, and the integrity of their 
administration. A second argument was, that he had solicited a number 
of friends and followers to attend him to the held of Mars, on the day of 
ehction. Cicero replies, that this too was a common practice, even in the 
case of persons of the meanest rank; and therefore could not, with any 
shadow of reason, be denied to a man of the first authority in the com- 
mon w< ■: 



267 

whether the fact was committed ? for, that once proved, there 
can be no doubt as to the infringement of the law. Now it is 
ridiculous to leave that which is doubtful without a thorough 
examination, and" to try a point that can admit of no doubt. 
For it was at the desire of all the candidates that this decree 
pafsed, that it might never be known against whom, or in whose 
favours, the law was intended. Prove then that L. Murena 
was guilty of these overt acts, and I shall, without hesitation, 
allow that they are exprefsly contrary to law. 

Sect. XXXJII. A great many people, you say, went out to 
meet him, when he returned from his province, to stand for the 
consulship. This is no more than common : what man, on his 
return home, is not met by a multitude of his friends? But who 
were those numbers ? First, supposing I was unable to satisfy 
you in this point, yet what reason is there to wonder, that "a 
great many went to meet a citizen so illustrious for -his merit, 
and a consular candidate ? had it been otherwise, the wonder 
would have been much greater. What if I should even say, since 
the custom is V/y nx> means unusual, that a great many were in- 
cited ; is it either criminal, or a matter of surprise, that in a 
state where we scruple not upon invitation to attend the sons of 
the meanest citizen, even before day, and from the most remote 
parts of the city; men should think it no trouble to appear in 
the field of Mars by nine o'clock, especially when invited in 
the name of so illustrious a citizen? What if all the several 
companies haciconie, from amongst whom many now sit here 
as judges ? what if many of the most distinguished men of our 
order ? what if the whole ohicious race of candidates, who never 
suffer a man to enter the city without paying him some mark of 
respect? if, in short, our accuser himself, Posthumius, had 
come to meet him at the head of a great retinue ? what is there 
wonderful in all this multitude of attendants ? I say nothing of 
his clients,' his neighbours, those of the same tribe^ nor of* the 
army of Lucullus, which was then come to Home to attend the 
triumph of their general. I will venture to affirm, that this gra- 
tuitous concourse of friends upon such an occasion, was never 
wanting to support the dignity, nay, even to answer the desire 
of whoever required it. But he had a vast train of followers : 
show them to have been hired, and I'll allow it criminal ; but if 
that does not appear, hew can you deem him guilty ? 

Sect. XXXIV.. But what occasion, says pur adversary, for 
all that train of followers? Do you ask me what occasion there 
is for a practice Avhich has been so long in general use ? Men 
£>f low condition have only this* method of meriting or requiting 

R v. 



268 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

dum est a nobis, aut ab equitibus Romanis, tit suos necefsarios 
candidates sectentur totos dies; a quibus si doums nostra cele- 
bratuv, si interdura ad forum deducimur, si uno basilicas spatio 
honestamur, diligenter observari videnmr et coli. Tenuiorum 
et non occupatorum amicorum est ista afsiduitas, quorum copia 
bonis et beneficiis deelse non solet. Noli igitur eripere bunc 
interior i generi hominum fructum officii, Cato : sine eos, qui 
omnia a nobis speraot, habere ipsos quoque aliquid, quod nobis 
tribuere pofsint ; si nihil erit praeter ipsorum suiiragium, tenue 
est; ( 36 ) si, ut suffragantur, nihil valent grati; ipsi denique, ut 
solent loqui, non diccre pro nobis, non spondere, non vocare 
domum suam pofsunt : atque haec a nobis petunt omnia : neque 
nlla re alia, quae a nobis consequuntur, nisi opera sua, compen- 
sari putant pofse. Itaque ( 37 ) et legi Fabiae, qua) est de numero 
sectatorum, et S. C. quod est L. Caesare consuie factum, restite- 
runt; nulla est enim pcena, quae pofsit observantiam tenuiorum 
ab hoc vetere instituto ofneiorum exciudere. At spectacula 

(36) Si, ut suffragantur, nihil valent gratia.'] As this seems to be a very 
obscure pafsage, and has occasioned no small trouble to commentators, I 
shall, for the reader's information, transcribe the remark of Ferratius upon 
it. ' Manutius, says he, hoc totum abundare arbitratur, et nihil omnino 
' requiri post illud : si ?iihil erit prater ipsorum suffragium, tenue est. Ego 
' et necefsarium alterum illud .membrum efse judico ad absolvendam sen- 

* tentiam, et duobus modis exponi pofse contendo. Nam suffragari nihil 
' aliud est, et significat, quam suum dare suffragium, ne ab ipsius verbi no- 

* tione recedatur. Jam constat, hanc superioris membri efse approbatio- 
' nem : si nihil erit prceter ips&rum approbationein, tenue est; nimirum, si 

* in referenda gratia nobilibus viris, pro tot ac tantis ibi collatis beneticiis, 

* nihil tenuiqres habeant prseter surlragium, tenuis admodum est compen- 

* satio. Qua de causa? si, ut suffragantur, nulla valent gratia ; quoniam, 
' prout suffragantur, et in ferendis suffrages, nulla tenuiorum gratia est. 

* Hac eadem oratione, cap. 23. ubi agitur de postulatis Sulpicii a senatu 
' repudiatis : Confusionem suffragiorum jlagitasti , prorogationem legis Ma- 

* 7iilia:, cequatiovem gratis, dignitatis siffragioruin. Lex Manilia, jam 

* yel abrogata, vel repudiata, jubebat, coniusis omnium centuriarum suf-^ 
( fragiis, eos efse conmles (idemque puta de cxteris magistratibus) qui 

* plura tulifsent. Eadem lex ut restitueretur, -Sulplcius petebat, cui si 
' senatus afsensus fuifset ; primo nullius' centurise beneficium apparmi'pet, 

* hinc toliebatur gratia: dein.de onuses sjmul omnium claisium centurias 

* suffragium tulifsent; hinc dignitatem, et jus suorum suiTragiortim, primal 

* et secundse clafris centurias amittebant, a quibus plerumque absolvebai> 

* tur comitia. Habet igitur, duas taftturn clafses, ut \ lurimum, gratia va- 

* luifse in ferendis suffragiis, hoc est in smTraganck), quod fere ab iis absol- 
' verentur comitia centuriata, de quibus loquimur, ;uitequam reMquaD clafsess 
f introvocarentur ; proindeque tenia, quarta in quinta, in suti'ragando, 
' nulla gratia valebant. Hi erant tenuiores, de quibus ut pateat vere efse 
< dictum: Si nihil erif 'prceter ipsorum' 'suffragium tenue est ; additnr 
f ratio: Si (pro quoniam) ut suffragantur (| >£o( :ul uffcag m erunt) fiulla 
( valent gratia. y Thus Ferratius; and yet, perhaps, the meaning may be 
no more than this, that a single vote is all they have to h. ich at best 
is but a small affair, as they have no weight, interest, nor authority, 
beyond their personal suffrage. 

(37) Et legi Fabuv, et senatitsconsullo.^ The Fabian law against coi up- 
lion, limited the number of followers that were to attend a candidate into 
^je field of Mars. But the people strenuously opposed this law, and could 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 269 

the services of us senators, by their afsiduity and attendance 
while we stand candidates for public offices. For it is neither 
pofsible, nor indeed to be required of us and the Roman knights, 
that we should attend our friend for whole days together in 
their demand of public honours. If they frequent our houses, 
if they sometimes conduct us to the forum, if they give us their 
company a piazza's length, we seem to be sufficiently honoured 
and respected. The afsiduity of constant attendance is never 
expected but from men of ordinary rank, and free from the in- 
cumbrance of busmefs ; and of these, the good and generous are 
never without a sufficient number. Do not therefore, Cato, de- 
prive the lower order of mankind of this fruit of their good 
offices. Suffer them who hope every thing from us, to have it 
likewife in their power to pay us somewhat in return. Had we 
nothing to expect from them but their votes, it would avail us 
little, because they have no great weight in elections. In short, 
as they themselves are wont to say, they cannot plead for us, 
they cannot bail us, they cannot invite us to their houses; these 
are services they expect from us : nor have they any prospect 
of requiting the good offices we do them, but by the zeal and afsi- 
duity of their attendance. Accordingly they opposed both the 
Fabian law, which limited the number or attendants, and the de- 
cree of the senate, which was made in the consulship of L. Caesar : 
for no penalty has yet been found sufficient to restrain peo- 
ple of meaner rank from this old method of expressing their 

be deterred by no penalties from exprefsing this mark of their regard for 
the great, founded in ancient custom. As to the decree of the senate here 
mentioned, it is to be referred to the year when Cicero declared himself a 
candidate for the consulship. He had no lefs than six competitors, P. Sul- 
picius Galba, L. Sergius Catiline, C. Antonius, L. Cafsius Longinus, 
Q. Cornifjcius, C. Licinius sacerdos. The two first were patricians, the 
two next plebeians, yet noble ; the two last, the sons of fathers who had. 
first imported the public honours into their families; Cicero was the only 
new man among them, or one born of equestrian rank. In this competi- 
tion, which happened during the consulship of L. Caesar and C. Figulus, 
the practice of bribing was carried on so openly and shamefully by An- 
tonius and Catiline, ,that the senate thought it necefsary to give some 
check to it by a new and more vigorous law; but when they were proceed- 
ing to publish it, L. Mucins Orestinus, one of the tribunes, put his nega- 
tive upon them. This tribune had been Cicero's client, and defended by 
him in an impeachment of plunder and robbery; but having now sold 
himself to his enemies, made it the subject of all his harangues to ridicule 
his. birth and character, as unworthy of the consulship. In the debate 
therefore, which arose in the senate upon the merit of his negative, Cicero 
provoked to find so desperate a confederacy against him, rose up, and 
after some raillery and expostulation with Mucius, made a most severe in- 
vective on the flagitious lives and practices of his two competitors, in a 
speech usually called in toga Candida, because it was delivered in a white 
gown, the proper habit of all candidates, and from which the name itself 
were derived. In this speech he counsels the senate to limit the number 
of attendants upon a candidate; but the tribune still persisting in his ne- 
gative, the proposal came to nothing; so that there was no law now in 
force which Murena could be said to have infringed. 

s 3 



2T0 ; M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sunt tributim data, et ad prandium vulgo vocati. Etsi hoc fac- 
tum a Muraena omnirto, judices, non est: ab ejus amicis autein 
more et modo factum est : tamen admonitus re ipsa, recorder 
quantum hae quaestiones in senatu habitae punctorum nobis, 
Servi, detraxerint. Quod enim tempus fuit aut nostra, aut pa- 
trum nostrorum memoria, quo haec, sive ambitio e>t, sive libe- 
ral! tas, non fuerif, ut locus et in circo, et in foro daretur amicus 
et tribulibus ? haec homines tenuiores primum, ne dum qui ea 
suis tribulibus veteri- instituto- afsequebuntur. 

XXXV. Prsefectum fabrftm semel locum tribulibus suis de- 
difse:' quid statuent in viros primarios, qui in circo totas taber- 
nas, tribtilium Causa, compararunt? ha:c omnia sectatorum, 
spectaculorum, prandiorum item crinliria a. multitudine in tuam 
nimiam diligentiam, Servi, conjecta sunt; in quibus tamen 
Muraena ab senatus auctoritate defenditur. Quid enim? Sena- 
tus num. obviam prodire crimen putat ? non ; sed mercede : 
convince: num sectari- multos r non, sed conductos: doce con- 
ductos : num locum ad spectandum dare, aut ad prandium in- 
vitare ? minime ; sed vulgo, pafsim, Quid est vulgo ? universos : 
non igitur, si L. Natta sununo loco adolescens, qui, et quo 
animo- jam sit, et qualis vir futCirus sit, videmus, in equitum 
centuriis voluit efse, et ad hoc officiiim necefsitudinis, et ad re- 
liquuam tempus gratiosus, id erit ejus vitrico fraudi, aut cri- 
mini: nee si virgO vestalis hujus propinquaet neceisaria, locum 
tbiium gladiatorum concefsit huic, non et ilia pie fecit, et hie a 
culpa est remotus: omnia haec sunt ofHcia necefsariorum, com- 
moda tenuiorum, munia candidatorum. At enim agit mecum 
austere et stoice Cato ; negat verum efse, allici benevolentiam 
cibo; negat judicium hominum in magistratibus mandandis 
corrumpi vokrptatibus oportere. Ergo, ad coenam petitionis 
causa si quis vocat, condemnetur ;_ quippe, inquit, tu mini sum- 
mum imperium, summam auctoritatem, tu gubernacula reipub. 
petas fovendis hominum sensibus et deliniendis animis, et adhi- 
bendis voluptatibus? utrum lCnocinium, inquit, a. grege deli- 
catae juventutis, an orbis terrarum imperium a populo Romano 
petebas? Horribilis oratio ! sed earn usus, vita, mores, civitas 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. 271 

attachment to the great. But public shows were exhibited to 
the tribes, and dinners were given to the populace. Though 
this, my lords, was not done by Murena himself, but by his 
friends, in moderation, and according to custom ; yet now that 
the thing is suggested to my remembrance, I cannot help de- 
siring you to reflect, Servius, how many votes are lost, by 
bringing these inquiries before the senate, for where was the 
time, either in our own memory, or that of our fathers, when 
this spirit, whether of ambition or liberality, did not allot a 
place in the circus and, the forum to our friends, and those of 
our own tribe? This custom began amongst the lower order of 
people, and by degrees spread. . „ . . » 

"Sect. XXXV. It is known that the master of the artizans 
once allotted a place to those of his own tribe : what shall we 
determine then with respect to men of quality, who hire whole 
booths in the critcus for the same purpose? All these accusa- 
tions, Servius-, regarding retinue, shows, and even entertain- 
ments, are attributed by the multitude to your over-scrupulous 
exactnefs; when Murena is even justified in these points by the 
authority of the senate. For-, tell me; does the senate think it 
criminal for a person to be met upon his return home ? No ; 
unleis he hires people for that purpose. Prove this then upon 
my client. Does it forbid a multitude of attendants? only 
when they are bribed. Make this appear. Are seats at the 
public shows, or invitations to dinner prohibited? never but 
when they are given promiscuously. But how promiscuously ? 
why, to all without exception. If L. Natta, a youth of distin- 
guished birth and courage, of whom we justly conceive the 
highest hopes, inrolled himself in the centuries of knights, to 
•conciliate their favour, and secure their interest for the time to 
come, ought that to be imputed to his step-father, as a crime 
Or fraudulent step? or if a vestal virgin, his relation and friend, 
resigned to him her seat at a show of gladiators, was it not a 
proof of affection in her, and a favour he might expect with- 
out danger of censure ? All these are no more than the duties 
of friends, the perquisites of inferiors, and the privileges of 
candidates. But Cato argues with austerity, and in the charac- 
ter of a Stoic. He says it is unjust to conciliate favour by giving 
entertainments to the people ; that, in conferring offices, the 
votes ought not to be influenced oy the allurements oi pie .jure ; 
and that if a candidate invites another to supper with this view, 
his conduct is justly liable to censure. What, says he, do you, 
solicit the chief command, the highest authority, and the admi- 
nistration of the commonwealth, by pampering the senses, 
soothing the inclinations, and administring to the pleasures of 
mankind ? Do you aspire to be master of the revels to a ti;oop 
of delicate youths, or to obtain the command of the world 
from the Roman people ? An alarming speech ? but refuted 

34 



272 T. M5 CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

ipsa respuit. Neque tamen Lacedaemonii auctores istius vitac y 
atque orationis, qui quotidianis epulis in robore accumbunt: 
neque vero Cretes, quorum nemo gustavit unquam Cubans, me- 
lius quam Romani homines, qui tempora voluptatis laborisque 
dispertiunt, respubiicas suas retinuerunt: quorum alteri uno ad- 
ventu nostri exercitus deleti sunt, alteri nostri imperii praesidio 
disciplinani suam,legesque conservant 

XXXVI. Guare noli, Cato, majorum instituta, quae res ipsa 
publka, quae diuturnitas imperii comprobat, nimium severa ora- 
tione reprehendere. ( 3S ) Fuit eodem ex studio vir eruditus apud 
patres nostros, et honestus homo et nobilis, Q. Tubero: is, 
cum epulutn Q. Maximus, Africani patrui sui nomine, populo 
Rom. daret, rogatus est a Maximo, ut triclinium sterneret, cum 
'efset Tubero ejusdem Africani sorois films : atque ille, homo 
eruditifsimus, ac Stoicus, stravit pelliculis* hoedinis lectulos Puni- 
canos, et exposuit vasa Samia : quasi vero efset Diogenes Cyni- 
cus mortuus, et non divini hominis Africani mors holiestaretur : 
quern cum supremo ejus, die Maximus laudaret gratias egit diis 
immortalibus, quod ille vir in hac republica potifsimum natus 
efse: necefse enim fuifse, ibi efse terrarum imperium, ubi ille 
efset. Hujus in morte celebranda graviter tulit populus Rom, 
hanc peruersam sapientiamTuberonis; itaque homo integerrimus,. 
civis optimus, cum efset L. Paulli nepos, P. Africani, ut dixi, 
sororis films, his hcedinis pelliculis praetura dejectus est. Odit 
populus Rom. privatam luxuriam, publicam magniricentiam dili- 
git; non amat profusas epulas; sordes et inhumanitatem multo 
minus. Distmguit rationem oiBciorum ac temporum, vicifsitu- 
dineni laboris ac voluptatis. Nam quod ais, nulla re allici homi- 
num nientes- bportere ad ma^istratum mandandum, nisi disrdi- 
tate: hoc tu ipse, in quo summa est digmtas, non servas ; cur 
enim quemquam, ut studeat tibi, ut te adjunct, rogasr rogas tu 
rue, ut mihi praesis, ut committam ego me tibi; quid tandem ? 
rstuc me rogari oportet abs te, an te potius a me, ut pro mea sa- 



(33) Fuit eodcm studio Q. Tubero.~] Cicero here ridicules the doctrine ot* 
the Stoles, shows the absurdities into which it may betray a man, and 
paints the ill consequences that often arise from it. Q. Tubero, of whom 
he speaks here, had profefced himself a Stoic, and resolved to regulate his 
conduct by the tenets of that sect. Accordingly, in an entertainment he 
gave the'Roman people, on occasion of the death of the great Scipio Afri- 
canus, he made use of plain wooden beds, goat-skin covers, and earthen 
dishes. But this ill-timed parsimony was so displeasing to the Roman 
people, that when he afterwards stood for the pr'aetorship, they refused 
biiri their suffrages, though a man. of illustrious birth, and the most distin- 
guished virtue. 



273 

by our lives, our manners, our practice, and the constitution it- 
self. For neither the Lacedaemonians, the first institutors of this 
way of living and talking, who at their daily meals recline upon 
a hard board ; nor the Cretans, who never indulge themselves 
in a lying posture at table, have been more succefsful in the 
management of public affairs than the Romans, who divide their 
time between businefs and pleasure. Nay, let me add, that the 
Cretans were destroyed in a single campaign ; and the Lace- 
daemonians are indebted to our protection, for the preservation 
of their laws and constitutions. 

Sect. XXXVI. Therefore, Cato, censure not too severely these 
customs of our ancestors, which our present flourishing condi- 
tion, and the long continuance of our empire, sufficiently justify. 
Q. Tubero, a man of learning in the days of our forefathers, 
and distinguished by his birth and personal merit, had imbibed 
the same principles which you follow. When Q, Maximus, in 
memory of his uncle Africanus, was preparing an entertaiment 
for the Roman people, he desired this Tubero, who was the son 
of Africanus' s sister, to furnish out a dining-room on the occa- 
sion. Upon which this learned stoic covered some plain wooden 
beds with goat-skins, and loaded them with earthen dishes ; 
as if they had been commemorating the death of Diogenes the 
cynic, and not of the great Africanus : a man so divine, that 
when Maximus pronounced his funeral oration, he thanked the 
immortal gods for his. being a native of this commonwealth ; 
because to whatever place his services were attached, there the 
empire of the universe could not fail to reside. And indeed 
the people of Rome highly resented this ill-judged wisdom of 
Tubero, in thus celebrating the obsequies of so great a man. 
Accordingly, this unblemished and excellent citizen, though 
the grandson of L. Paulus, and the son of Africanus's sister, 
was tofsed in those goat-skins out of the prsetorship. The 
people of Rome hate private luxury, but are fond of public 
magnificence ; they do not love profusion in entertainments, 
but far lefs a sordid penurious economy : they know how to 
distinguish times and duties, and the vicifsitudes of labour and 
pleasure. For as to your afsertion, that nothing but merit 
ought to influence the minds of men, in conferring public ho- 
nours ; your own very practice, great as your merit is, runs di- 
rectly counter to it. For why do you ask any one to favour 
your pretensions, and promote your suit ? You request me to 
grant you the command over me, and put myself under your 
authority. But why so ? does it belong to you to request 
that of me, or ought not I rather earnestly to solicit you to 
expose yourself to dangers and fatigues for my sake ? What do 
you mean by keeping a nomenclator ? the thing itsejf is a mere 



274 M. T. CICEE.ONIS ORATIONES. 

lute labdrem periculumque suspiciasr ( 3 >) Quid, quod Labesnd- 
menclatorem ? in eo quidem fallis, et decipis. Nam si nomine 
appellari abs te cives tuos honestum est ; turpe est eos notiores 
else servo tuo quam tibi ; sin etiam noris, tamen per monitorem 
appcllandi sunt ? cur ante petis, quam insusurravit r aut quid, 
cum admoneris, tamen quasi tate noris, ita salutas ? quid, pos- 
teaquam es designatus, muito salutas negligentius ? ha;c omnia 
ad rationem civitatis si dirigas, recta sunt : sin perpendere ad 
discipline prsecepta velis, reperiantur pravifsima. Quare nee 
plebi Romanae onpiendi fructus isti sunt ludorum, gladiatorum, 
conviviorum; quae omnia majores nostri com para veruht : nee 
candidatis ista benignitas adimenda est, que liberalitatem magis 
signiricat, quam largitionem, 

XXXVII. Atenim tead accusandum respub. adduxit. Ci 
Cato te isto animo, atque ea opinione venifse : sed tu impru- 
dentia labevis. Ego quod facio, judices, cum amicitiae dignita- 
tisque hi Muraena? gratia facio; turn me pacis, otii, concordia?, 
libertatis, salutis, vita? denique omnium vestrum causa facerc 
clamo atque obtestor. Audite, audke consulem, indices, nihil 
dicam arrogantius, tantum dicam, totos dies atque noctes de 
republica cogitantem. Non usque eo L. Catilina rempublicam. 
despexit atque contempsit, lit ea copia, quam secum eduxit, se 
hanc civitatem opprefsurum arbitraretur ; latins patet illins 
scelci is contagio, quam quisquam putat : ad plures pertinet. 
(+°) Intus, intus, inquam, est equus Trojanus, a quo nunqih 
me console, dormientes opprimemini. Quaris a me, quid 
Catilinam metuam ? Nihil : et curavi me quis metueret : 
copias illius, quas hie video, dico e(Ve metuendas : nee tain 
timendus est nunc excrcitus L. Catilina 4 , quam isti, qui ilium 
exercitum deseruifse dicuntur : non enim descrnerunt ; scd ab 
illo in speculis atque insidiis relicti,in capite atque in cervicibns 
nostris restiterunt; hi et integrum consulem, et bonum impc- 



(39) Quid, quod habes nomenclature m ?] As at I . I much 

to give, and therefore expected to be much courted, every man who 

aspired to any public dignity, made it his busiiiefs to , the 

place, and the condition of every eminent citizen, v 

and what neighbours he had. l ? or this purp v.- or 

two in his family, whose sole employment it w; and 

know the persons of every citizen at sight, so as to be able to whisper t 
to his master as he pai'sed through the streets, that he might be ready to 
salute them all familiarly, and shake hands with them as his particular ac- 
quaintance. Plutarch says, that the use of t relators 
trary to the laws; and that Cato, I 
offices, would not employ any of them, but took all 
himself. But that notion is here fully confuted b; 
absurd rigour of Cato's stoical principles, and their 
common life, from this very circumstance of 
for Cicero himself,, whatever paics 



2T5 

cheat. For if it be your duty to call the citizens by their names, 
it is a shame for your slave to know them better than yourself: 
but if you really know them, where is the necefsity for a mo- 
nitor ? why do^you not speak to them before he has whispered 
you ? or, after he has whispered, why do you salute them, as 
if you knew them yourself? or, when you have gained your 
election, why do you grow carelefs about saluting them at all r\ 
All this, if examined by the rules of social life, is right ; but if 
by the precepts of your philosophy, very wicked. Therefore 
neither are the people of Rome to be deprived of the gratification 
arising from shows, gladiators, and public feasts, all which our 
ancestors have provided for our entertainment ; nor are candi- 
dates to be excluded from the privilege of conferring those 
favours, which are rather marks of generosity than corruption.. 

Sect. XXXVII. But you tell me it was your regard for the 
commonwealth that induced you to undertake this impeach- 
ment. I easily believe, Cato, that you come here with that 
intention and design ; but you obstruct your own purpose, for 
want of due reflection, For my own part, my lords, I am far 
from difsembling,. how much friendship, and a concern for 
Murena's dignity, weigh with me on this occasion ; but at the 
same time allow me to declare, nay and in the strongest terms 
proclaim, that I am no lefs moved by a regard to the peace y 
ease, concord, liberty, lives, and safety of us all. Hear, hear 
your consul, who, not to speak arrogantlv, thinks of nothing 
day and night but of the republic. Catiline does not despise 
us so far as to hope to subdue this city with the force which 
he has carried out with him. The contagion is spread 
wider, and has infected more than you imagine. The Trojan 
horse is within our walls ; which, while I am consul, shall never 
opprefs you in your sleep. If it be asked, then, what reason 
I have to fear Catiline ? none at all ; and I have taken care 
that nobody else need fear him : yet I say, that we have cause 
to fear those troops of his, which I see in this very place. Nor 
is his army so much to be dreaded, as those who are said to 
have deserted it : for in truth they have not deserted, but are 
left by him only as spies upon us, and placed as it were in am- 
bush to destroy us the more securely. All these want to see a 
worthy consul, an experienced general, a man both by nature 

appears from several pafsages in his letters, that he constantly had a no- 
menclator at his elbow on all public occasions. 

(40) Intvs, intus est equus Trojanus.~\ The story of the Trojan horse is so 
■well known, from the elegant description given of it by Virgil, that there 
is no occasion to ealarge upon it here. I shall therefore content myself 
with observing, that our orator, by alluding to it in this place, means to 
insinuate, that the danger with which the city was threatened, did not 
arifefrom. thofe who had followed Catiline, but from those whom h£ 
behind him in Rome, 



216 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ratovem, et natura et fortuna cum repub. salute Conjunctum., 
clejici de urbis prsesidio, et de custodia civitatis vestris sententiis 
deturbare volunt: Quorum ego ferrum et audaciam rejeci in 
campo, debilitavi in foro, comprefsi etiam, domi meae ssepe ju~ 
dices ; bis vos si alteram consulem tradideritis, plus multo erunt 
vestris sententiis, quam suis gladiis consecuti. Magni interest, 
judices, id quod ego multis repugnantibus egi atque perfeci, 
efse kalendis Januar. in repub. duos consules. ( 41 ) Nolite arbitrari, 
mediocribus consiliis, aut usitatis viis, autlege improba,autper- 
niciosa largitioneauditumaliquandoaliquodmalumreipub. quaai. 
Inita sunt in hac civitate consilia, judices, urbis deiendee, civium 
trucidandGrum,nominisIiomaniexstinguendi ; atque haec cives, 
cives, inquam, si eos hoc nomine appeilari fas est, de patria sua 
et cogitant, et cogitaverunt ; horum ego quotidie consiliis oc- 
curro, audaciam debilito, sceleri resisto, sed vos moneo, judices : 
in exitu est jam meus consulates : nolite mihi subtrahere vi- 
cariurn meac diligenliac : nolite adimere eum, cui remp. cupio 
tradere incolumem, ab his tantis periculis defendendam. 

XXXVIII. Atque ad haec mala, judices, quid accedat aliud, 
non videtis? te, te appello, Cato: nonne prospicis tempestatem 
annitui? jam enim hesterna concione intonuit vox perniciosa 
designati [tribuni] college tui : contra quern multum tua mens, 
multum omnes boni providerunt, ( 42 ) qui te ad tribunatus pe- 
titionem vocaverunt. Omnia, qua; per hoc triennium agitata 
sunt jam ab eo tempore, quo aL. Catiliha, et Cn. Pisone imtum 
consilium senatus»internciendi scitis else, in hos dies, in bos 
menses, in hoc tempus erumpunt. Qui locus est, judices ? 
quod tempus? qui dies? qua) nox ? cum ego non ex illoriirn 
insidiis ac mucronibus non solum meo, sed multo etiam magis 
divino consilio eripiar atque evolem ? neque isti me meo no- 
mine interlici, sed vigilantem consulem de reip. prsesidio de- 
movere volunt: nee minus vellent, Cato, te quoque aliqini 

(41) Nolite arbitrari.'] This sentence serves to confirm what is advanced 
immediately before: Magni interest efse kalendis Jam jar ii in rcpublicd 
duos consules. The reason is implied in this sentence immediately follow- 
ing ; because the commonwealth is threatened with a dangerous attack 
from the afsocjates and followers of Catiline. These men, says he, pro- 
pose not any common attempt against the state ; nor endeavour to spirit 
up the multitude by the promulgation of pestilent laws, or the pernicious 
arts of corruption, which are the vulgar artiJices of factious men ; but by 
daring counsels, and methods hitherto unpractised, they aim at no lets 
than the utter extinction of the commonwealth., a thing hitherto unheard 
e£ in this city. The designs are more fully explained afterwards: luita 
su?it in hac civitate consilia, &c 

(42) Qui te ad tribunatus petitionem vocaverunt ] We learn from Plutarch, 
in his life of Cato, that that Roman retiring into Lucania, to spend some 
time at an estate he had in the country, suddenly altered his mind, ar.d 
by the persuasion of his friends returned the same day to Home, with a 
view of offering himself a candidate for the tribuneship, that he might be 
the better able to oppose the pernicious designs of Metellus Nepos, « 

as he was informed upon his journey, was making interest for the same 
dignity. 2 



f 

and fortunes attached to the interests of the republic, dim 
your sentence from the guard and custody of the city. I 
already blunted their swords, and checked their audacioui 
tempts in the field of Mars; I have baffled them in the for 
and repressed their rage even within my own house : but sho. 
you on this occasion give them up one of the consuls, they 
will gain much more advantage -by your decision, than they 
have been able to do by their swords. It is of great importance, 
my lords, and what I have laboured and effected in spite of 
much opposition, that there be two consuls in the common- 
wealth the first of January. Do not imagine, that in effect of 
moderate counsels, by common means, a pestilent law, or the 
pernicious influence of corruption, the republic is threatened 
with no more than an ordinary danger. Designs have been 
hatched, my lorols, within this state, to destroy the city, murder 
the citizens, and extinguish the Roman name. Citizens, citi- 
zens, my lords, if it be not unlawful to call them by that name, 
have devised, and at this very time are devising, all these mis- 
chiefs against their country . I am daily employed in unravelling 
their pernicious schemes, crushing their audacious, attempts, 
and opposing the torrent of their guilt. But suffer me to re- 
mind yoti, my lords, that my consulship is upon the point of 
expiring : withdraw not then him who is to succeed me in my 
vigilance and care : take not from me the man, to whom 
I wish to deliver over the commonwealth un violated, that 
he may defend it from the mighty dangers to which it is ex- 
posed. 

Sect. XXXVIII. But, my lords, do you not see the ad- 
ditional evils that threaten us? Here I addrefs you, Cato; have 
you no foresight of the storm that impends over your magi- 
stracy ? For so early as yesterday's afsembly, the pernicious 
voice of your colleague elect thundered in our ears ; against 
which your own prudence, and the joint concurrence of all the 
honest, who were so anxious to raise you to the tribuneship, 
have thought it necefsary to use much precaution. All the per- 
nicious schemes that have been in agitation for three years past, 
since the time that L. Catiline and Cn. Piso formed the»design 
pf mafsacring the senate, are at this period and season, and dur- 
ing these months, ready to burst forth. Where is the place, my 
lords, where the time, where the day, where the night, in which 
I have not been snatched and rescued from the snares and swords 
of these traitors, leis indeed by my own foresight, than by the 
watchful care of the immortal gods ? Nor did -their attempts 
against me flow from personal hatred, but from their desire to 
deprive the commonwealth of a consul watchful for its preser- 
vation : and believe me, Cato, they have the same designs 



M. T. -CICEROKIS ORATICNES. 

)fsent, tollere : id quod, mihi crede, et agnni, et 
, ident quantum in te sit animi, quantum ingenii, 
LDtttm auctoritatis, quantum reip. proesidii: sed cum (43) 
consulari auctoritate et auxilio spcliatam vim trib.unitiam vidc- 
rint, turn se facilius inermem et debilitatum te opprefeuros ar- 
bitrantur : nam ne suificiatur consul, non timent: vident in 
tuorum potestate cojlegarum fore: sperant sibi Silanum, clarum 
virum, sine collega, te sine consule, rempub. sine pnesidio ob- 
jici pofse. His tantis in rebus, tuntisque in periculis, est tuum, 
M. Cato, qui non mihi, non tibi, sed patriae natus es, videre 
quid agatur, retiijere adjutorem, defensorem, socium in repub- 
kca, consulem non cupidum, consulem (quod maxime tempus 
hoc postulat) fortuna constitutum ad amplexandum otium, 
scientia ad bellum gerendum, animo et usu ad quod velis ne- 
gotium. 

XXXIX. Quanquam hujusce fei potestas omnis in vobis sita 
est, judices : totam rempub. vos in hac causa tenetis, vos gu- 
bernatis. S'vL. Catilina cum suo consilio nefariorum hominum, 
quos secum eduxit, hac de re pofset judicare, condemnaret 
L. Mui'Lenam : si interficcre pofset, occideret ; petunt eniin ra- 
iiones illius, ut orbetur auxilio resp. ut minuatur contra suum 
furcrcm imperatorum copia ; ut major facultas tnbunis plcbis 
detur, depulsp adversario, seditionis ac di^cordiae concitanda?. 
Idemne igitur dclecti ampliismis ex ordinibushonestiisimi atque 
sapienfcilsimi viri judicabunt, quod ille importunifsinms, gladi- 
ator, hostis reipub. judicaret ? Mihi crcdite, judice=, in hac 
causa non solum de L. Muraena, vcrum etiam dc vestrS salute 
sententiam ferctis ; in disciimen extremum venimus: nihil est 
jam mule nos renciamus ? aut ubi lapsi rcsistanius ; non solum 
minuepda non sunt auxilia qua? habemus : sed etiam nova, si 
fieri pofsit, comparanda ; ( 44 ) hostis est enim non apud Anienem, 



(43) Consulari avctcrilrJc sfcliztam vim trib:.nit:c7:i.~\ Cicero, the more 
mally to convince Cato of the reason a blew eft. as well 
desisting from the present prosecution,, observes, that Cato's own pri 
rity or danger ^as inscpeialny connected with that ot* Murena. 
should Murena be cast, the conspirators would thereby be de!i\ 
a powerful ei»emy, whose vigour and great tal< 

rived of his aid. would find hiipself ill able t< 
ci a daring and desperate crew; the rather as having drawn over some 
tribunes to their party, they would by their interposition be able (o pre- 
a new election, and find -it -an easy matter to banle the authority a 5i 
who would have no colleague to afsist hiin in opposing their desL 

(.44). Hostis est e-nim non cpud Jnicnem.~\ In the second Piini* 
M. Fuivius the consul was besieging Capua, and had reduced 
extremities that it must in a short time surrender; Hannibal, th< 
ginian general, i I'empts to relieve i^, came to a sud 

resolution ot investing Borne . nat Fufvius 

which threatened his country, ge of Capua and A} 

the assistance of the capital. Accordingly he advanced Willi his 
the river Anio, and encamped f Rome. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 219 

inst you, could they by any means compafs them; nay, at 
tms very time, they labour and are intent upon them. They 
are no strangers to your courage, your capacity, your autho- 
rity, and your abilities to defend the state. But when they shall 
perceive the tribunieian power destitute of the consular aid and 
authority, they think it will be more easy to opprefs you in 
that weak and defenceless condition. For they are no way 
afraid of another consul's being substituted in the room of Mu- 
rena, because they perceive that affair will be entirely in the 
power of your colleagues. Thus are they in hopes, that the 
illustrious Silanus being without a colleague, and you without 
thaaid of a consul, the republic will be exposed naked and de- 
fencelefs to their attempts. Amidst these important concerns 
and imminent dangers, it is incumbent upon you, Cato, who are 
not born for me, or for yourself, but for }^our country, to weigh 
well the matter now before you, to preserve your afsistant, your 
defender, your afsociate in the government; a consulnot am- 
bitious, ,4 consul such as the present juncture requires, whose 
fortune disposes him to cherish tranquillity, whose experience 
fits him for the affairs of war, and whose abilities and spirit are 
equad to every purpose you can desire. 

Sect. XXXIX. But, my lords, this whole affair depends en-« 
tirely upon you ; in the cause now before you, the preserva- 
tion and prosperity of the commonwealth rest upon your deci- 
sion. Was Catiline, and the band of profligates he has carried 
along with him, to have been judges in this affair, he would 
have eagerly condemned Murena ; nay, could it have- been ef- 
fected, he would not' have scrupled to afsafsinate him. His 
schemes require that the commonwealth be deprived of her sup- 
ports ; that the number of generals capable of opposing his fury 
be lefsened ; that the tribunes of the people, having rid them- 
selves of so formidable an adversary, be more at liberty to blow 
the flames of discord and sedition. And shall men, distinguished 
for their integrity and wisdom, selected from the most conspi- 
cuous orders of the state j pafs the same judgment as would a most 
audacious gladiator and declared enemy of his country? Believe 
me, my lords, you are in this cause not only to determine the 
fate of Murena, but likewise to decide upon your own safeties. 
We are now come to the crisis and extremity of our danger ; 
there is no resource or recovery for us, if we now miscarry ; 
it is no time to throw away any of the helps which we have, 
but by all means pofsible to acquire mere. The enemy is 

ed some terror at first, and a debate arose in the senate about recalling 
Fulvius from Capua. But Fablus M axioms vigorously opposing this 
tion, toon changed the fear of the Romans into contempt ; and Ful 
was permitted to continue the siege of .Capua, which in a Ihort time - 
impelled to surrender. 



280 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

<mod bello Panico gravifsimum visum est ; sed in urbe, in foro : 
tlii immortales ! sine gemitu hoc dici non potest: non nemo 
etiam in illo sacrario reip. in ipsa, inquam, curia non nemo hos- 
tis e^t. Dii iaxint, ut meus collega, vir fortifsimus, hoc Catilinae 
neianum latrocinium armatus opprimat ! ego togatus, vobis, 
bonisque omnibus adjutoribus, hoc quod conceptum respublica 
periculum parturit, consilio discutiam, et comprimam. Sed 
quid, tandem tiet, si haec elapsa de manibus nostris in earn an- 
num, qui consequitur, redundarint? ( 45 ) Unus erit consul, et is 
non in admrnistrando bello, sed in sufficiendo collega occupatus; 
hunc jam qui imped ituri sint, * * Ilia pestis immanis, impor- 
tuna, Catilina, prorumpct, qua potent: et jam populo Rom^io 
minatur: in agros suburbanos repente advolabit: versabitur in 
castris furor, in curia timor, in foro conjuratio, in campo ex- 
ercitus, in agris vastitas : omni autem in sede ac loco lermm 
ilammamque metuemus ; quae jam diu comparantur, eadem ista 
omnia, si ornata suis prarsidiis erit respub. facile et magistra- 
tuum consiliis, et priratorem diligentia opprimentur. 

XL. Quie cum ita sint, judices, primum reipub. causa, qua. 
nulla res cuiquam potior debet ef>e, vos, pro mea sumraa et 
vobis cognita in rempub. diligentia, monco, pro auctoritate 
consular? hortor, pro magnitudine periculi obtestor, ut otio, ut 
paci, ut saluti, ut vita? vestrae et caeterorum civium consulatis: 
deinde ego (♦*) fidem restrain, vol defensoris et amici ofHcio 
adductus, oro atque obsccro, judices, ut ne hominis miseri, et 
cum corporis morbo, turn animi dolorc confecti, L. Muraense 
recentem gratulationem novalamentationeobruatis; mod 6 max- 
imo beneficio pnpuli Horn, ornatus, fortunatus videbatur, quod 
primus in familiam veterem, primus in municipium atitiquifsi- 
mum, consulatum attuliiset: nunc idem squalore sordidus con- 



( i 3) Unus erit cotisul."] Upon a supposition of Muren&'s being cast, P. Si- 
lanus would have remained sole consul. Tim was the more dangero 
that time, as the daring and desperate designs of the conspirators seemed 

more than ever to require the vigorous administration of' two consuls \ 
whereas by setting aside one, and entangling the other in a dispute with 
the tribunes about a new election, public affairs would be neglected, and 
measures could be properly taken, to aver', the storm that threatened 
to break upon the state. This was the circumstance which chietlv favoured 
Murena, it appearing neither safe nor prudent, in such difficult ti 
while a rebellion was actually on foot, to deprive the city of a consul, who, 
by a military education, was the best qualified to defend it in so dangi 
a crisis. Accordingly Cicero urges this consideration here with ail the 
warmth of rhetoric; and vc find it had such weight in the ifsue with the 
judges, that without any deliberation, they unanimously acquited Murena ; 
and wotiid not, as Cicero himseil informs us, so much as hear the ao 
lion of men the most eminent and illustri 

(46) Fidcm vest rum vtl '<.~\ Manutius finds great perplexity in 

this pafsage, which he endeavours to remove by altering the reading, ills 
words are; * Hie mihi suspicionem meiidi varietas ailert antiquorum, 



CICERO's ORATIONS. 231 

rM on tlic banks of the Anio, which was thought so terrible in 
the Punic war, but in the city and the forum. Good gods! 
(I cannot speak, it without a sigh) there are some enemies in 
the very sanctuary ; some, I say, even in the senate : the gods 
grant that my brave colleague may in arms be able to quel] this 
impious rebellion of Cataline ! a whilst I, in the gown, with the . 
afsistatice of all the honest, will endeavour, by the most prudent 
measures, to dispel ti*p other dangers with which the city js 
now : big. But what will become of us, if they should slip 
through our hands into the new year, and find but one consul 
in the republic, and him employed, not in prosecuting the war, 
■but in providing a colleague ? Then this plague of Catiline will 
break out in all its fury. Already it threatens the people in the 
remoter parts of Italy, and will soon spread into the neighbour- 
hood of Itome itself. Mafsacre and bloodshed will take poises- 
sion of our camps, fear, of our senate, faction and discord of, the 
•forum, armies of the field of Mars, and desolation of our pror 
•vinces ; while the terrors of fire and sword will pursue us 
• through every haunt and retreat. Yet all these long projected 
evils may be easily dispelled, by the wisdom of Our magistrates, 
and the zeal of the citizens, if we deprive not the commonwealth 
•of the protection of her consuls. 

Sect. XL. In these circumstances, my lords, let me in the 
first place admonish you, out of regard to the commonwealth, 
which ought to be the dearest object of -affection to every citizen, 
and in consideration of my unwearied, and. by you experienced 
zeal for the interests of my country; let me, in consequence of 
the authority I am clothed with as consul, exhort you, and, 
from my sense of the greatnefs.of the danger, com are you to be 
watchful over the ease, the peace, the welfare, the safety of your 
own lives, and those of your fellow-citizens. In the next place, 
I intreat and request, my lords, out of friendship, to Murena, and 
by all the ties that bind me to defend him, that you will wot add 
a new load of affliction to one already overwhelmed with an- 
guish of body and trouble of mind, nor convert his late congra- 
tulations into a, flood of sorrow. But. a litttle ago, crowned with 
the highest honours tiie people of Rome can bestow, he seemed 
the most fortunate of men, as being the first that imroduced the 



A emplarium. In duobus, vestram, abest: in altero legitur, Fide in vos de- 
* fcusbris : unum cum pervulgatis liforis censentit. Plsceret, fide deferisoris 
1 ct amici officio adductus. Fides enim pvoprie defensoris est, officium 
.' amici. Qui lem hie judicum brare opus est? Quale autem vi- 

•"" detur, Tut verl c;onsidei\muis,)_/zc/ew restrain oro? Qua? si paruin 

■*.aut nihil habeat momenti, difsensio certe veteriim librorum contemuenda 
.* lion videtur.?' 

T 



£8l2 M. T. CICERO Nls 6RATIONES. 

fectus morbo, lacrymis ac moerore perditus, vester est supplex, 
judices, vestram fidem obtestatur, misericordiam implorat, ves-r 
tram potestatem ac vestras opes intuetur. Nolite, per deos 
immortales, judices, hac earn re, qua se hoiiestiorem fore puta- 
vit, etiam ca3teris ante partis honestatibus, atque omni dignitas 
te fortunaque privare. Atque ita vos Muraei^ judices, orat 
atque obsecrat, si injuste neminem laesit, si nullius aures volup- 
tatemve violavit, si nemim, ut levifsime dicam, odio nee domi 
nee militia? fuit ; sit apud vos modestise locus, sit demifsis honii- 
nibus perfugium, sit auxilium pudori. Misericordiam spoliatio 
consulatus magnam habere debet, judices : una enim eripiuntur 
cum consulatu omnia ; invidiam vero his temporibus hsfcere 
consulatus ipse nullam potest ; objicitur enim concionibus se- 
ditiosorum, insidiis conjuratorum, telis Catilince : ad orane deni- 
que periculum, atque omnem invidiam solus apponitur. Quare 
quid invidendum Muraenae, aut cuiquam nostrum sit in hoc prae- 
claro consulatu, non video, judices; qua; vero miseranda sunt, 
et ea mihi ante ocujos versantur, et vos videre et perspicere 
potestis. 

XLL Si (quod Jupiter omen avcrtat!) hunc vestris sententiis 
afflixeritis, quo se miser vertet ? Domumne ? ut earn imagineru 
clarifsimi viri, parentis sui, quam paucis ante diebus laureatam 
in sua gratulatione conspexit, eandem (+ 7 ) derbrmatam igno- 
minia, lugentemque videat r An ad matrem, quae misera modo 
consulem osculata filium suum, nunc cruciatur, et solicita est ne 
eundem paulo post spoliatum omni dignitate conspiciat ? Se I 
quid ego matrem aut domum appello, quern nova poena legis et 
domo, et parente, et omnium suprunl consuetudine conspectu- 
que privat ? Ibit igitur in exsiliuin miser I quo?' Ad orienti.-ne 
parteis, in quibus annos multos legatus fuit, et exercitus dux it, 
et res maximas gefsit ? at habet magnum dolorem, undc cum 
honore decefseris, eodem cum ignomin'ia reverti. An se in 
contrariam partem terrarum abdet, ut Gallia Transalpina, quern 
nuper summo cum imperio libentiisime viderit, eundem lugcn- 
tern, moerentem, exsuiem videat? in ea porro provincia, quo 
animo C. Muraenam fratrem suum adspiciet? qui hujus dolor r 
qui illius mceror erit ? quaj utriu'squfe lamentatio ? quanta autem 



(47) Deformatam ignominia, lugentemque videat.'] This is a part of what 
rhetoriciams call the peroration; by which they meant a pathetic addrefs 
to the judges, representing the miseries that would be consequent upon the 
condemnation 01 the person accused; and endeavouring by a lively descrip- 
tion to excite companion. Cicero/it must be owned, has succeeded very 
happily in this part, and given so striking a picture of the height Muivna 
■would fall from, and the distress he would be exposed to, by a rigorous 
sentence, that no heart susceptible pf the feelings of humanity, can pobibly 
Withstand the influence of it. 



Cicero's orations. 28S 

consulship into an old family, and one of the most ancient of 
the free towns of Italy: now clothed in sordid apparel, spent 
with disease, opprefsed with tears and sorrow, he is your sup- 
pliant, my lords ; he sues to you for justice, he implores your 
compafsion, and seeks protection from your power and interest. 
For heaven's sake, my lords, let not that by which he hoped for 
an addition to his rank, contribute to divest him of all his for- 
mer honours, and of his whole dignity and fortune ! For thus, 
my lords, does Murena supplicate and addrefs you ; if he has 
injured no man, if he never offended either in word or deed, to 
say the least, he has incurred no man's hatred in peace or war ; 
Jet your tribunal be an asylum to moderation, a refuge to men 
in distrefs, and a place of protection to the modest. Great 
compafsion, my lords, is due to the man, who is stripped of the 
consulship ; for, in losing that, he loses his all. But surely in 
these days there can be little reason for envying any one the 
pofsefsion of that dignity ; since he is thereby exposed to the 
harangues of the seditious, the snares of conspirators, and the 
attacks of Cataline ; in short, must singly oppose every danger, 
and all the attempts of malice. And therefore, my lords, I 
cannot see what there is in this so much coveted office, why 
either Murena, or any of us who are or have been pofsefsed of 
it, should become objects of public envy. As to the many cares 
and solicitudes attending it, these are even now before my eyes, 
and cannot fail of being obvious and visible to you. 

Sect. XLI. If (which Heaven forbid!) your decision proves 
unfavourable, whither shall the unhappy Murena turn him? 
Homewards ? to behold the image of his illustrious father de- 
formed with ignominy, and covered with the mark of sorrow, 
which he so lately saw adorned with laurel, the object of his con- 
gratulations ? To his mother ? who having but just embraced 
her son a consul, is now racked with tear, and apprehensive of 
seeing him, despoiled of all his dignity ? But why do I mention 
his mother, gx his home, when the new penalty annexed to this 
law, deprives him at once of parent, habitation, and the company 
and conversation of all his friends ? Shall then the wretched Mu- 
rena be banished? hut whither? To the east, where he for 
many years served as lieutenant, where he commanded great 
armies, and where he performed many glorious actions ? Alas ! 
it is a hard lot to return with ignominy to a country which we 
have left with honour. Shall he. hide his head in the opposite 
part of the globe, and appear mournful, dejected, and an exile 
in Transalpine Gaul, which lately with pleasure beheld him 
clothed with supreme command ? With what eyes can he look 
upon his brother C. Murena, in that province ? what must be 
the anguish of the one, what the sorrow of the other ? and 

T2 



284 M. T. CXCERONIS ORATIONES. 

perturbatio fortune atqae sermonis, qadd, quibus in locis paueia 
ante diebus factum efee consulem Mursenam nuntii literaeque 
celeb rafsent, et unde hospites atque amici gratulaturm Romam 
concurrerint, repente ed accedat ipse nuntius sua? calamitati.5 r 
Qnod si acerba, si misera, si iuctuosa sunt, si alienifsima a, raan- 
"suetudine et misericordia vestra, judiccs ; conservate po 
Komani beneficium: reddite reipub. consuiem : date "hoc ipsius 
pudori, date patri mortuo, date generi et tamiiia?, date etiain 
Lanuvio, municipio honestifsimo, quod in hac causa frequens 
moesttimque vidistis ; nolite a-sacris Junonis Sospita^ cui onmes 
consules facere neceise est, doniesticum et suum consulem po- 
tifsimum avellere, (" 8 ) Quern ego vobis, si quid babet, aut mo- 
ment] eommendatio, aut auctoritatis confirmatio mea, con id 
consulem, judices, ita commendo, ut cupidifsimum otii, stu- 
diosifsimum bonorurn, accerrimum contra seditionem, fortis- 
simum in hello, inimicifsimumhuie conjurationi, quae nunc rem- 
publicam labefactat, futurum else promietam et spondeam. 



(48) Quern ego. — Judices^.ta commendo, id, &c] We have already had 
occasion to observe that Murena was acquitted; and therefore shall here 
only add, that his administration fully answered the idea which Cicero, in 
this oration, endeavours to give it ; he proving an honest, faithful, and vi- 
gorous consul, a zealous opposer of those who sought the ruin of Iheir 
country, and an irreconcileable enemy to all factious magistrates. This 
oration was spoken towards the latter end of the six hundred and nintieth 
year of the city, in the consulship of Cicero and AiitQiiius, a little 
M .ireua took'poiselsion of that high dignity, 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 28 J 

how great the lamentation of hoth ? What a reverse of for- 
tune and discourse! that in the very place in which a few day* 
before accounts arrived ot Murena's being raised to the consul- 
ship, and whence strangers and friends Hocked to pay him their 
compliment* at Rome; there he hirpselt' should first arrive with 
the tidings of his own disgrace? If this, my lords, appears a 
hard, a cruel, and a mournful lot, if shocking to vour huma- 
nity and companion ; preserve the favour bestowed by the Ro- 
man people, restore to the commonwealth her consul; show 
this respect to the purity of Murena's virtue, to the memory 
of his deceased father, to his quality, to his family, and like- 
wife to Lanuvium, that most honourable corporation, whose 
disconsolate citizens you have seen attending in crowds during 
this whole trial. Tear not from the patriot rites ot Juno Sol- 
pita, which all consuls are obliged to celebrate, a domestic con- 
sul, in whom she has so peculiar a right. If my recommenda- 
tion, my lords, has any weight, if my afsurances have any 
authority, I am ready to promise and engage for Murena, that 
lie will prove a consul zealous for the public tranquillity., warm- 
ly attached to the friends of his country, keen in opposing 
sedition, brave in all the enterprizes of war, and an irreeoncile- 
ablc enemy to this conspiracy, which now shakes the pillars of 
the commonwealth. 



T* 



0RATIO IX 



I ,«r *• * i . » , ■■ 



PRO ARCHIA POET A*. 



sit 
non 



I. QI quid est in me ingenii, judiccs, quod scntio quam 
O exiguum; aut si qua exejcitatio dicendi x in qua me 
kmcior mediocriter else versatum ; aut silmjutce rei ratio aliqua 
ab optiniartun artium studiis, et disciplina proiecta, a qua ego 
nullum confiteor a?tatis meae tempus abhorruifsc: earum rerum 
omnium vel in priini* hie (•) A. Licinius fructum a me repctere 
prope suo jure debet. Nam quoad longtfsime potest mens mea 
respicere spatiuni pratertti temporis, et pueritia* meinoriam re- 
cordari ultimara, iude usque repeteas, nunc video niihi prip- 
cipcm, et ad suscipiendam, et ad ingrediendam rationem liorum 
studiorum exstitilse. Quod si hare vox liujus hortutu pra ccptisque 
conionnata, noimullis aliquandq saluti i'uit ; a quo id accepinms, 
quo ceteris, opitularr, et alios servare poi'senius, huic protecto 
ipsi, quantum est sitmu in nobis, et opcm et sahitcm ferre dc- 
bemus. Ac ne qiwsii nobis hoc ita dici forte niiretur, quod alia 
quxdam in hoc facultas sit ingenii, neque hac dicendi ratio aut 
otfciplina: ncnosquidem huic () cimcti studio penitus unquam 
dediti iuimiis. Ktenim oinnes artes, quae ad Immanitatcm per- 
tinent, habent quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cogna- 
tione quadatn inter se continentur. 



* A. Licinius Archias was a native of Antiorh, and a very celebrated poet, 
lie came to IJoroe when Cicero was about five years old" and was courted 
■fcfy men of the greatest enaneuce in i*, on account of his learning, jjeiritts, 
and politoncfe. Amou£ others Lucullus was very fond of him, took Ifim 
• into, his family, and gave him the liberty of opening a school in it, to which 
many of the young nobility and gentry <>f Koine were sent for their educa- 
tion." In the"consuh»hip of M. Pupius'I'iso aud M. Valerius Mefsala, one 
Gracchus, a person oi'obscure birth, accused Archias upon the JaW'by which 
those w [to were made free of any o! the confederated cities, and at t !> tim£ of 
pafsingjhe law dwelt in Italy, were obligee) to claim their j>rivde£e before 
the orator within sixty da\s. Cicero, in this, oration, endeavours to prove 






I« I 111. 

ORATION IX. 



FOR THE POET ARCHIAS. 

■i ■ ' " < h -I- *» '» ■" i ii . .,j, 

Slct. I- TF, my lords, I have any abilities, and I am scnfible 
JL they are but small ; if, by speaking often, I have 
acquired any merit as a speaker ; if 1 hive derived any know- 
ledge from the study of the liberal arts, which have ever been 
iny delight, A. Licinius may justly claim the fruit of all. For 
looking back upon past scenes, and calling to remembrance* 
the earliest part of my life, I find it was he who prompted mo 
first to engage in a course of study, and directed me in it. If 
my tongue, then, formed and animated by Mm, has ever been 
the means of saving any, I am certainly bound by all the ties 
of gratitude to employ, it in the defence of him who has taught 
it to afsist and defend others. And though his genius and 
course of study are very different from mine, let no one be 
surprised at what I advance : for I have not bestowed the 
whole- of my time on the study of eloquence ; and besides 
all the liberal arts are nearly allied to each other, and have as 
it were, one dommon bond of union. 



that Archies was a Roman citizen in the sense of that law; but dwells 
chiefly on the praises of poetry in general, and the talents and genius of the 
defendant, which he displays with great beauty, elegance, and spirit The. 
oration was made in the forty-sixth year ot Cicero's age, and the six 
hunched and ninety-second year of Rome. 

(1) A Licinius factum a 'me rrpctere prope suo jure debet.} Cicero was 
put early under the care of Archias, and applied himself chiefly to poetry 
CO which he was naturally addicted : he made such a proficiency in ft, that 
while he was still a boy, lie composed and published a poem, called Gltuicus 
Pontius, which was extant in Plutarch's time. 

(2) Cuttcti.~] Instead of cuncti, some of the commentators are for reading 
vni, others euro: et, either of which would indeed be better: but cuncti 13 
retained in almost all the editions of Cicero's works, bemg supported by 
IJk authority of all the manuscripts. < 7 



288 T. M. CICERONIS ORATIOKES. 

II. Sed nc cui vestrum mirTTm else videatur, me in qtia?stionc 
lcgitima, et in judicio publico, cum res agatur apud pratorem 
populi Roman t, leetifsimuni virum,ct apud severii'simos judices, 
tanto conventu homimun ac fYequeutia, hoc uti genere dicendi, 
quod non modp a 'consiu'tu.imc judiciorum, verutn etiam a 
tofensi ser mono abhor rcat : quxso a vobis, ut in hac oausd 
mihi detis banc veniani, acconuiiodatum huic reo, vobis, quem- 
adqiodum spero, nou molcstam ; ut me pro sumino poeta? at- 
que eruditii'snno homine, dicentem, hoc concursu homiiium 
Kteratrfsittiorttm, haC vestrfc bnmanitate, hoc denique pratore 
exercente judicium, patiamini dc studiis liumanitatis ac litcra- 
ruin paulo loqui liberius: et in eiusmodi persona, qua? propter 
otium ac studium minime in juuiciis pcriCuIisque tractata est, 
Uti prope novo quodam et inusitato genere diceudi. Quod &i 
mihi a vobis tribui concedique sentjam ; perriciam prol'ccto, ut 
hunc A. Licinium, non modo non segregandum, cum sit civis, 
a numero civium ; "vcrum etiam si non efset, putetis asciscen- 
dum fuifse. 

III. Nam ut primum ex pucris excefsit Archias, atque ab 
iis artibus, qmbus aetas puerilis ad humanitatcm informari solet, 
*e ad scribendi studium contulit ; primum Antiochai (nam ibi 
natus est, loco nobili, et eclebri quondam urbe et copiosa, 
atque eruditifsimis hominibus liberal iisiuaisque itudiis aflluenti) 
celeriter antecellere omnibus ingenii gloria contigit ; pobt in 
ceteris Asia) partibus, cunctaque Gracia% sic ejus advent us 
celebrabatur, ut famam ingenii exspectatio hominis exspecta- 
tioneni ipsius adyentus aumhatioque supcraret. l.rat Italia 
tunc plena Gracarum artinm ac'disciplinarum : studiaque hac 
et in Latio vehementius turn eolebnntur, quaod nunc iisdein in 
oppidis : et hie Roma propter tranquillitatcm rcipub. non ne- 
giigebaritur. Itaquc hunc et Tarentdni, ut Rhegini, ot Neapo- 
litan 1 civitatc caterisque pramiis donarunt : ef omncs, qui 
aliquid dp ingoniis poterantjtidicare, cognitipne, atque hotpitiq 
dignum cxistunarunt. liac tanta, celebritate lama- cum e.Vot 
jam abscutibus notus, RoiiiJim venit, Mario eonsulc, et Catulo; 
nactus est primum consules cos, quorum, alter res ad -cnben- 
dum maxiiuas, (•) alter cum res gestas, tuni etiam studium at- 
que aures adlubere pofset ; stutim Luculli,. cum pratexiatus 
etiam turn Archias eTset, qum domum suam receperunt. Sod 
fJam hoc non solum ingenii ac literarum, vcrum etiam naturae 
atque virtiilis fuit, ut donius, quae hujus adolescent ia* priiu«| 
iuerit, eadeni cta'l iomiliariisima scucetuti. Krat temponbus 



(3) Alter Cum r a s gestns, fc'f.] C'u-fro spraks in ver\ High terms ot" this 
Catglu-, ui his Looks be Claris cralui'.KS, :u:d Dm orafore. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 2S9 

Sect. II. But lest it should appear strange, that, in a legal 
proceeding, and a public cause, l>cforc an excellent prat6r, 
the most impartial judges, and so crowded an afscmbly, I 
lav aside the usual style of trials, and introduce one very dif- 
ferent from that of the bar ; I must beg to be indulged in this 
liberty, which, I hope, will not be disagreeable to you, and 
which seems indeed to be due to the defendant : that whilst I 
am pleading for an excellent poet, and a man of great erudi- 
tion, before so learned an audience, such distinguished patrons 
of rthc liberal arts, and so eminent a pnetor, you would allow 
me to enlarge with some freedom on learning and liberal studies - f 
and to employ an almost unprecedented language for one, who, 
by reason of a studious and inactive life, has been little con- 
versant in dangers and public trials. If this, my lords, is 
granted me, I shall not only prove that A. Licinius ought notJ 
as he is a citizen, to be deprived of his privileges, but that, if 
he were not, be ought to be admitted. 

Sect. III. For no sooner had Archias got beyond the vears 
of childhood, and applied himself to poetry, alter finishing those 
studies by which the minds of youth .are usually formed to a 
taste for polite learning, than his genius showed itself supe- 
rior to- any at Antioch, the place where he was born, of a 
noble family ; once indeed a rich and renowned city, hut still 
famous for liberal arts, and fertile in learned men. He was 
afterwards received with such applause in the other cities of 
Asia, and all over Greece, that though they expected more than 
lame had promised concerning him, even these expectations 
were exceeded, and their admiration of him greatly increased. 
Italy Mas, at that time, full of the arts and sciences of Greece, 
which were then cultivated with more care among the. Latins 
than now they arc, and were not even neglected at Rome, the 
public tmnquimtv being favourable to them. Accordingly the 
inhabitants of Tarentum, Rhegium, and Naples, made him 
free of their respective cities, and conferred other honours 
upon him; and all those who had any taste, reckoned him 
worthy of their acquaintance and friendship. Being thus 
known bv fame to those who were strangers to his person, he 
came to Koine in the consulship of Marius and Catuius; Hie first 
of whom had, by his glorious dee Is, furni.ihcJ oar a noble . ab- 
ject lor a poet ; and the other, besides his memorable actions, 
was both a fudge and a lover of poeti . . 1 hough he had not 
yet reached his seventeenth year, yet no sooner was he arrived 
than the Lueulli tool; him into their family ; which, as it was the 
first thafreceived him in his youth, so it afforded him freedom 
of accefseven in old age; nor was this owing to his great gen ins 
;md learning alone, but likewise to his amiable temper and 



200 M. T. CICEKOKIS ORATIONES. 

illis jucumlus Q. MeteNo illi Numidico,et ejus Pio filio : andie- 
bamr k M. #.milio : vivcbat cum Q. Catulo, et pare et filio : 
i L Crako colebutui : Lucullts vero, et Drusum, et Octavios, 
ct Catoncm, t-t totam Hortensiorum domum dcvinctani consue- 
tudinr enm tcneret, afticiebatur summo honore, quod eum non 
solum toii-bant, qui aliquid percipere aut audire studebani, 
▼ertnn ctiam si qui facte siraulabant. 

IV. Interim satis longo intervallo, cv^m cfset cum L. Lucullo 
in Siciliam protecting et cum ex ea provineia cum eodem Lu- 
cullo deeederet, venit Hcracleam : quae cum efset ci vitas 
aquifeimo jure ac fcederc, adaenbi 6e in earn civkatern voluit ; 
idque, cikm ipse per se dignus putaretur, turn auctoritatc, et 
gratia Luculli ab Heracliensibus impetra\ it. Data est ci vitas 
8.1vani lege, et Carbonis, SI QUI FOKDERATIS CIVI I A 1 I~ 
BUSADSCR1PTI FUISSENT: SI TUM, CUM LFX FERE- 
BATUR, IN ITALIA DOM1CILIUM HABUISSENT : ET 
SI SFXAG1M A DIKBUS APUD PR/fcTOREM ES8ENT 
PROFESSI. Cum hie domicilium Rour.e niidtos jam annos 
haberet, profefsus est apud pratorem Q. Metellum, Vamiliaris- 
simuni suum. Si mint aliud, nisi de civitate ac lege dicimus, 
nihil dico ainplius : causa -dicta est* Quid enim horum infir- 
mari, Gracchc, potest ? Heracleane else eum adscriptum ne- 
gabis? adest vir sununa auctoritate, et religione, et fideM. Lu- 
cullus, qui se non opinari, sed scire ; non audivifse, sed vi- 
difse; non interfuifse, sed e^ifse dicit. Adsunt Heraclienses 
legati, nobiliisimi homines, qui hujus judieii causa cum mandatis 
ct cmn publico testimonio venerunt, qui hunc adscriptum He- 
racliensem dicunt. HSc tu tabulas desideras Heracliensium 
poblicas, quas Italico belio, incenso tabulario, interiise scimus 
omnes. Est ridiculum ad ea quae habemus nihil dicere; qua 1 - 
ferc quoe habere non poisum us : et de hominum menioria ta- 
«e*e, literarum memoriam rlagitare : et, cum hat>eas atnpli&imi 
riri religoncm, integerrhni fnunieipii jusjurandum fidera- 
que, ea, qu»> depravari nullo modo poi'sunt, repudiare ; ta- 
Vu! as quas idem dicis solere corrumpi, desiderare. An domi- 
cilium Ronae non babuit is, qui tot aunis ante civitatem datam, 
sedem omnium rerum uc i'ortunarum suarum Roma? colloca- 
\;t ? At non est protelsus 3 immo vero iis tabulis prot'efsus, qua? 



CICERO-'s ORATIONS. 20 t 

virtuous difposition. At that time too, Q. Metellu* Numidici^, 
and his son Pins, were delighted * itli his conversation ; M. j£mi- 
lms was one of his hearer*; Q. Catulus, U>th tl>e elder and 
vounger, honoured him with their intimacy; I.. Crafts* courted 
him; and being united, by the greatest familiarity, to the 
Luculli, Dnisus, tbe Oetavii, Cato, and the whale Hortensian 
family, it was no small honour to him, to receive marks of the 
highest regard, not only from those who were really desirous of 
hearing him, and being instructed by him, but even from, 
those who affected to be so. 

Sect. IV. A considerable time after, he went with L. Lu- 
cullus into Sicily, and le avin g that province in compauy with 
the same Lucullus, came to Heraclea: which being joined with 
Rome bv the closest bonds of alliance, he was desirous of bcini* 
made tree of it ; and obtained his request, both on account of 
his own merit, and die interest and authority of Lucullus. 
Strangers were admitted to the freedom of Home, according ft> 
the law of Sylvanus and larbo, upon the following conditions : 
If they were inmlled by free cities , if they had a dwelling in I fall/ 
when the law poked ; and if -they decUued their inrolment before 
the itftetor within the space of sixty days. Agreeable to this law, 
ArcVas, who had resided at Home for many years, made his 
declaration before the praetor Q- Metellus, who was his intimate 
friend, ft' the right of citizenship and the law is all I have to 
prove, I have done ; the cause is ended. For which of these 
things, Gracchus, can you deny ? Will you say that he was not 
wade a citizen of Heraclea at that time? Why, here is Lucul- 
|os, a man of the greatest credit, honour, and integrity, who 
affirms it ; ami that not as a thing he believes, b it a* what he 
knows; not as what he heard oi\ but as what he saw; not as 
what he was present at, but as what he transacted. Here are 
likewise deputies from Heraclea, who aftirm the same; men. of 
the greatest quality, come hither on purpose to give public tes- 
timony in this cause. But here you'll desire 10 see the public 
regi>ter of Heraclea, which we all krtow was burnt in the Ita- 
lian war, together with the office wherein it was kept. Now, 
•I it not ridiculous to say nothing to the evidences which we 
have,Hmi to .desire those which we cannot have; to be siieTit as 
to the testimony of men, and to demand the testimony of regi- 
sters'; to pay no regard to what is aiiirmel by a perion of great 
dignity, nor to the oath and integrity of a free city of the strict- 
est honour, evidences which arc incapable of being Corrupted, 
and to require those of registers which you allow to be frequent 
lv vitiated? But he did not reside at Rome: what! lie who tor 
so many years before Silvaniis's law made Home the seat of ail 
his hopes and fortune? But he did not declare: so far is this 
ftom being true, that liis declaration is to be seen in that regt- 

g 



S9S M. T. CICERONIS ORATIWES. 

sola: ex ifta profession** collegioque praetor urn obtinet publica- 
ruua tabularum .auctoritatem. 

V. Nam cum Appii tabulae negligentius afscrvatx dicerentur ; 
Gabion, quamdhi ihcolumis fuit, levitas, pos£ damnationem, 
calamitas, omnem ta!)iilarum fidem resjgnajVet ; jftetellus, houm 
sanetitsimus modcstifsimusque omnium, tanta, Uiligcntia. tuit, ut 
ad L. Lentulum praetorem ctad judicss venerit, ct unius nomi- 
nee litura se commotum else dixcrit. His igitur tabulis nuliam 
lituram in nomcn A. Licinii videtis. Quas cum ita sint, quid 
est quod de ejus civitate dubitetis, pra?sertim cum aliis quoque 
in civitatibus fucrit adsoriptus? N Eteniiu cum mediocribus multis, 
et aut nulla, aut humili aliqua arte pra?ditis, gratuito civitatem 
in Graccia homines impertiebantur ; Rhcginos credo, aut Lo- 
crenses, aut Neapolitanos, aut Tarentinos, quod scenicis artili* 
cibus largiri soleant, id huic summiX ingenii pracdito gloria, no- 
luil'se? Quid? cum crcteri non modo ( 4 ) post civitatem datain, 
sed etiaui ( s ) post legem Papiam, aliquo modo in eoium muni- 
clporum tabulas irrepscrint; hie, qui nee utitur quideru illis, in 
(pfcttms est 'script us, quod semper se Hcracliensem else voluit, 
rejieietur ? ' Census rtostroa requiris scilicet. Kst enim obsurum, 
proxhnis censoribus, lumc cum clariisimo imperatcre L. Lucullo 
^pud exe,rcitum fuifse: supcrioribus, cum codem quavstore tuiise 
in Asia: primis, Julio et Crafso, nullam populi partem ekecen- 
saro? Sed quoniam census non jus ciyitatis contirmat, ac tan 
tummodo indicat, eum, qui sit census, ita se jam turn gefsilsc 
procivci iis temporibus, quae tu criminaris, ne ipsius quidem 
judicioeum in civium Rom. jure efee versatum, et testamentum 
saepe fecit nostris legibus, et adiit hsercditatcs civium Rom. et 
( a ) in benetieiis ad ararium dejatus est a. L. Lucullo pia-torc et 
votisule. 

VI. Qivrrc argumenta, si qua potes: nunquam enim hie neque 
suo, neque amicorum judicio revincctur. Quaeres, a nobis, Grac- 
che, cur tantopere hoe homine delectemur? quia suppeditat 
nobis, ubi et animus ex hoc forensi stvepitu reficiatur, et aures 
convieio dctet'sa? conquiescant. An tu cxistimas, aut suppetere 
nobis poise, quod quotidie dicanuis in tanta varictate reruin, 
riisi animos nostrbs doetrina excolamus: aut ferre animos taut am 



(4) Ft)st ci'ilatem datam.] This refers to the law made by Silvanus and 
Cnrbo, which is mentioned before. 

(5) Post legem PupifJn.~\ 1 his law derived its name from one Rapius, a 
tribune of the people, who restored the law made by Fetronius, whereby 
strangers were forbid to enjoy the privileges of citizens. 

(6) In tc?wjkiis ad (truriu'm dcljfus est ) It Was usual lor the 'Roman ge- 
nerals to recommend those to the treasun . who, in the course of a war, 
had done an} considerable service to the state ; which recommendation, as 
it did them" no small honour, so it contributed not ~ little to their ad- 
vancement. 



vl3 

iter, which by that very act, and its being in the custody of <he 
college of prdetors, is. the only authentic one. 

Sect. V. For the negligence of Appius, the corruption of 
Gabinius before his condemnation, and his disgrace after having 
destroyed the credit of public records; Metcllus, a man of the 
greatest honour and modesty, was so very exact i!..»t be came 
before Lentulns the praetor and the other judges, and declared 
that he "Was uneasy at the" erazure of a single Dame. The 
name of A. Licinius there tore is still to be seen; and as this is 
the case, why should you doubt of his being a citizen of Koine, 
especially as he was inrolled likewise in other free cities? For 
when Greece bestowed the freedom of its cities, without the 
recommendation of merit, upon persons of little considera- 
tion, and those who had either no employ ment at all, or very 
mean ones, is it to be imagined that the inhabitants of Rhe- 
gium, Locris, Naples, or Tarcntum, would deny to a man so 
highly celebrated tor his genius, what they conferred even upon 
comedians? When others, not only after SilanuVs law, but 
even after the Papian law, shall have found means to creep 
into the registers of the municipal cities, shall he be rejected, 
who, because he was always desirous of pafsing for an Hera- 
clean, never availed himself of his being inrolled in other cities? 
But you desire to sec the inrolment of our estate; as if it were 
not well known, that under the last censorship, the defendant 
was with the army commanded by that renowned general, 
L. Lucullus; that under the censorship immediately preceding, 
he was with the same Lucullus, then quaestor in Asia; and 
that when Julius and Crafsus were Censors, there was no inrol- 
iricnt made. But as an enrolment in the censor's books does 
not confirm t'e right of citizenship, and only shows that the . 
person inrolled afsumed the character of a citizen, I must tell 
you that Archias made a. will according to our laws, succeeded 
to the estates of Roman citizens, and was recommended to the 
treasury by L. Lucullus, both when prater and consul, as one 
who deserved well of the state, at the very time when you al- 
lege that by his own concision, he had no right to the free- 
dom of Rome. 

Sect. VI. Find out whatever arguments von can, \rchias will 
never be convicted for his own conduct, nor that o( his friends. 
Hut you'll no douht ask the reason, Gracchus, of my being so 
highly delighted with this mail? Why, it is because he fur- 
nishes me with what relieves my mind, and charms my, ears, 
after the fatigue and noise of the forum. Do \ou imagine t 
I could pofsibly plead every »'„, on such a variety oi sitnje&a, 
if my mind was not Cultivated with science ; or that it could 
bear being stretched to such a degree, if it were not sometimes 



£9* M. T. ClCERO'KtS ORATIONE*. 

pofte cotitentionem, nisi eo» doctrin& eadem rclaxcmus? Eg* 
vero fateor, me his tftudiis else deditum: cstteros pudeat, si qui 
ita se literis abdiderunt, ut nihil pofsint ex his neque ad com- 
uiuuein arferre fructum, neque in adspectum Inccmque profci re. 
Meauteru quid pudeat, qui tot annos ita vivo, juxlices, ut ab 
nullius unquam me tempore, aut ebmmodam, ar.t otiUm mcum 
abstraxcrit, aut voluptas avocaY;t, aut denique soinuus retaidarit 3 
Quare qnis tandem me reprehendat, aut quis mihi jure succen- 
iieat, si, quantum ceteris ad suas res obeundas, quantum ad tes- 
tes dies ludorum celebrandos, quantum iid alias voluptates, et 
ad ipsam requiem animi et corporis conceditur tempoi is ; quan- 
tum alii ti'ibumit ( 7 ) tempestrus .conviviis^ quantum denique 
alear, quantum pihe; tantuiu nnlii egomet ad ha-c studia reeo- 
lendaxMimpsero? Atque hoc atleo mihi concedendum est magis, 
quo-i ex his studiis, baNB quoque crescit oratio, et facultas : qu;e 
<juantacunque in me est, nunquam amicorum periculis deluit; 
qua; si cui levior videtur; ilia quidem -terte, quie summa sunt, 
ux quo fonte hatiriiiai, sentio. Nam nisi niukorinn pruceptis, 
multisque literis uuhi ab adolescent tl suasifsem, nihil else in vitfc 
iiiagnopere expetendum, nisi Uudein at que honestatem; in ei 
autcm persequenda omnes cruciatus corporis, omnia perlcula 
mortis atquc exsilii parvi else ducenda: nunquam me pro salute 
vestra. in tot ac tantas dimicationes, atque in hos proriigatorum 
homiuum quotidian©* impetus objeciisem. Sed pleni omne* 
sunt libri, plena? sapientium voces, plena exemplorum vetustas; 

J|UK jacerent in tenebris omnia, nisi literarum lumen accedoret. 
■luam multas nobis imagines, non solum ad mtuendum, verum 
ctiitm ad imitandum, fortiisimorum virorum exprefsas, scriptorc* 
et Glutei et I^itini reli-querunt ? quas ego mihi semper in ad- 
ininistranda repub. prop„:iens, animum et mentem meam ipsa, 
<M>gitatione hominum excellentium contbrmabam. 

VII. Quxret quispiam, quid? iili ipsi summi viri, quorum 
virtutcs Uteris prod ita: sunt, i&tanc doctrina, quam tu laudibus 
criers, eruditi fuerunt ? Ditricile est hoc de omnibus connrmare : 
*ed tauien est certum, quod respondeam. Ego.multos homines 
•excellent! animo ac virtutc fuifse, et sine doctrina, liatimc 
jpsius habitu prope divino, per Wipsos et moderatos, et graves 
e xsi it it 'se fateor ; etiam illud adjungo, sarpius ad laudein atque 
virtutero naturam sine doctrina, quaui sine natura valuil'sc doc- 
trinaiu; atqiie idem ego contendo, cum ad naturam eximiaru 
Atque illustrem uccei^crit ratio qiuedaiu conibrmatioque doc- 
tiiua. ; turn illud nescio quid prxclarum ac singularc solere ex-r 
si store ^ Ex hoc else hunc nume.ro, quern patres nol'tii vide- 
iuiit^ divimuu hominem, ArVicanum : ex hoc C. LaTmm, 



■ •'; . — - 



(7) Tcmpcstivis convirifs*] Such entertainments as began before the or 
<-lmary hour, which wns *l>out y.'iur, or our three o'clock, and were tbttgtl 
Mxd out till iute at uight, were called iemtpsstica ovnv:.:u. 



CICERo's ORATIONS 295 

imbent by the amusements of learning T I am fond of these 
studies, I own : let those be ashamed who haw buried thmu^ebvi 
in teaming so as to be of no use to society, nor able to pro* 
ducc any thing to public view ; but why should 1 be ntllHmmU 
who for so many years, my lords, have never been prctciiled 
bv indolence, seduced bv pleasure, nor diverted by sleep, from 
doing geod olhces to others? Who then can censure uie. or in 
justice be angry with me, if those hours which others employ 
in businel**, in pleasures, in celebrating public solemnities, in 
refreshing the body, and unbending the nnod ; if the time which 
is spent by some in uiiduighs banqueting*, m diversions, and 
in gaming, I employ in reviewing these studies? And this ap- 
plication is the more excusable, as I derive no small advantages 
from it in my [nofefsion, in which, whatever abilities I pofselV, 
they have always been employed when the dangers of my 
friends called for their assistance. If they should appear to 
any to be but small, there are still other advantages of a much 
higher nature, and I am very sensible whence 1 derive them. 
For had I not been convinced from my youth, by much instruc- 
tion and much study, that nothing is greatly desirable in 'life 
>ut glory and virtue, and that, in tbe pursuit of these, all bodily 
tortures, and the perils of death and exile are to be slighted 
and despised, never should I have exposed myself to so many 
■and so great conflicts for your preservation, nor to the daily 
rage and violence of the most worthless of men. But on 
this head books are full, the voice of the wise is full, antiquity 
is full ; all which, were it not for the lamp of learning, would 
be involved in thick obscurity. How many pictures of tho 
bravest of men have the Greek and* Latin writers left us, not 
only to contemplate, but likewise to imitate f These illustrious 
models I always set before me in the government of the state, 
and formed my conduct by contemplating their virtues. 

Sect. VII. But wore those great men, is will he asked, who 
are celebrated in history, distinguished for that kind of learn- 
ing which you. extol so highly? It were difficult, indeed, to 
prove this of them all ; but what I shall answer is, however, very 
certain. I own then that there hare been many men of excel- 
lent dispositions and distinguished virtue, who, without learning, 
and by the almost divine force of nature herself, have been wise 
and moderate; nay, farther, that nature without learning is of 
greater efficacy towards the attainment of glory and virtue, 
than learning without nature; but then I affirm, that when to 
an excellent natural disposition the embellishments of learn- 
ing are added, there results from this union something great 
and extraordinary. Such was that divine man Afncanus, 
whom our fathers saw : such were C. Lselius and L. Furius, 
persons of the greatest temperance and moderation : such was old 



M. T.'*'tlCEHOXI*S ORATIONES. 

£. Furium, rnodestifsimos homines, et coritTnentifsinYoT: ev hc£ 
tbrtifsimum virum/erillis femp6rrous dc^tilsihnrm, (•fM, ( 
lf!£fc| ilium senem:^qiii profecto, si nihil ad pei'cii)icnditm cole;i- 
damqUe"virtutcui r lrter.is"1iJjuvarentiir, riunqtiam se ad earum 
stndrufn cotitntifcept Qilod si non hie tarftus frtiettis <5sten- 
deretur, si ex fiis studiis (lelectatio sola peteretur : tamen, ut 
6pinor, banc animi remifsionerri'bumanii'simam ad liberalifsiman} 
judicurctis. Nam civtera, lieque tcmporum sunt, neque atatuin 
Qraninm, negne locorurh : at ni&c studia adolescontiani 'alunt* 
senectutem oblcctant, secimdas res orfiarif, adversis perfngiiutt 
ac solatium jMTt bvnt ; deleCtant dorni, non im}>c'diunt foris ; per- 
noctant tiobisciiin, peregrinantnr, rusticantur. Quod si ipsi l)xc 
neque attingefe,. neque sensu hostro gustare possemus, fameri ea, 
tnrrarf debcremrjs, etiam cum in aliis videremus. 

VIII. Quia nostrum tarn ammo agresti ac dura fiiit. ( q ) ut 

Roscii morfe nupet non commoveretur 5 qui, cumefset schc\ r 
mortuus, tamen prbpler orcellentem artem ac venustatem, vi- 
dcbatur omnino mofi non dcbuHsc. Ergo ille corporis mom 
tUntum amorem sibi conciliarat a nobis omnibus : nos animomfq 
fceredibiles motus, celcntatemnuc ingeniorum negligemus ? 
feuoties ego hirnc Archiam vidi, judiccs, (utar enim ves'tra be- 
aignkate, quoniam me in hoc novogenere dicendi tarn diligentef 
astenditis ;) tjuoties ego hunc vidi, cum litcram scripsifset rmllam \ 
hiagmim uunerum optimorum versuum de his ipsis rebus, quae 
{►inn agereutur, dicere extempore? Quoties revoeartfm eandem 
fem dicere commutatis verbis at que sententfisf qua: vero accurate 
Cogitatcqne McrirfcHsct, ea sic vidi pmbari, ut ad veterrm fcripto- 
rtmi laudcin pervencrint. Hunc ego non diligam ? non admirer? 
iron Oiuni rati one defendendum purem'? Aqui sic t\ summis ho- 
minibus ertitfitifeimisque accepimus, ca»tcrkfum return stadia, ct 
„ joctrina; et pfasceptis, et arte constate ; poo tarn natura. ipsa vule- 
Ve,ct mentis viribusc\citan.et quasi divinoquodam spirit u inHari. 
•Qua re stio jure poster ille Kntiius sonctos appellat poctus, quod 
Ijriasi dcorum allqfio dono atque nu'.nere commendati nobis cfse 
tideantur. Sit igirur, indices, sanctum apud vos, huriftan\fsim6$ 
homines, hoc poetanomen, quod nulla unquam barbarej; violavit. 

* (8] Af. Catorievi ilium gsn:m!\ Cicero,*1n his piece, De Claris orator ibvs, 
a%u\ tM>th;it De senUUtic, iBikw tVt(|utnt nuntion dt' the eloquence d 
Vl. C'alo, \\Iio ajipliciJ [iini.tjir to the sULuiyot' the Greek lasiguage wheu 
very o\A 

('.' i c V KOSrit )>:.<rfc tiitptr non CtinitfWvcrvtUr.~\ Ths wasfte&cltl$ the en- 
ni^dian, *!*)se extr«ioniinan merit tn Ris nrt had recommended hitn I 
frujwiship aiw! !'ani;!:.,:v\ of the griMtest.im'i. i* Hun e. Jtis ilail\ pay -^r 
*^W4"' , V**''^ '.V.'wy'W 1 '" rt ou | ill'rlv.pcnuH^. \i- \\\ tut . ....1 ter • 
I/H'ero grvc#*c>l In but entertain a v« y high npiuion ol 

merit;' for rti tells i.-, that whife he made the t"ir-t figure o.i ii. 
Ms art, Ixe via* ivoi'thv oi the »enate Cor his virtues. 



crdrno's ouatioki. 297 

Cato, a man of great bruvery, and tor t lie times, of great learn. 
tog; who, surely f would never have apphed to ti.e sua . of 
learning, had they thought it of no service towards tne ucqui* 
sitioti aud improvement of Virtue. But were pleasure only to 
be derived from learning wituout jbe advantages we have men- 
tioned, you unit kill, 1 imagine, allow it to oe a verv liberal 
and polite amusement. For otljcr studies are not suited to every 
time, to every age, and to every place; but these give strength 
in youth, aii J joy in old age; adorn prospe; »tv,and mi the sup- 
port and consolation of adversity; at home t .ey are delightful, 
and abroad they are easy ; at night tltey are company to us ; when 
we travel they attend us; and, in our rural retirements, they do 
not forsake us. Thouj> »i we ourselves were incapable of them, 
and had no relish for their cuanns, still we should admire tueui 
when we see them in others. 
> 
Sect. VIII. Was there any of us so void of ta>te, and of so 
unfeeling a temper, as not to be affected lately with the death 
of Koscius? For though he died in an advanced age, vet such 
was the excellence and inun table beauty of his art, t >at wu 
thought him worthy of living for ever. Was he then so great 
a favourite with us all, on account of the graceful motions or ait 
body ; and shall we be insensible to the surprising energy of 
the mind, and the sprightly sallies of genius ? How often have 
I seen this Archias, my lords, (for I will presume on your good- 
nt-fs, as you are pleased to favour me with so much attention 
in this unusual manner of pleading) ; how often, I say, have I 
seen him, without using his pen, and without any labour or 
study, make a great number or excellent verses on occasional 
subjects ? How often, when a subject was resumed, have I he*rd 
him give It a different tut n of thought anJ cxpiefsion, vniist 
those compositions which he huisned with Cure «nd exact nei's 
were as highly approved as the most celebrated writings of an* 
tiquity ? And shall I not love this man I Snail 1 not admire 
him ? Shall I not defend him to t!ie utmost of my 'power? For 
men of the greatest eminence and learning have taught us that 
other branches of science require education, art, and precept; 
but that a poet is formed by the plast.c iarid of nature herself, 
is quickened by the native nre of genius, and animated as it 
were by a kind of divine enthusiasm It is with justice there* 
fore that our Lmnius bestows upon poets t;ie epithet of venerable^ 
because they ^eem to have some peculiar gifts of the gods to re- 
commend them to u*. Let the name of poet, then, w .ic.i the 
most barbarous nations have never propiuned, be revered by 
you, my lords, who are so great admirer of pohte learning. 
Hecks aud deserts re-echo sounds; savage beasts are eften 



22$i T ' M - CiCEKONU QRA.XIONES. 

Sajaot ^Huidin^ voci rcsoonuollt> j^^ ^ imjuaj^ 
( -ntu flectutuur, atque con si stunt : hos instituti rebus opttniis 
nnn pueturum voce moveamur? Homertim Colbptiortii cavern 
ilicunt suum, Chii duuiri vindicant, Sulaimriii lepctuut, 
Smyrna i vero suuul efse coulirmant ; itaque * etiam uelubruiu 
iii pjtptdb dedicaveruut ; pcrmulti alii pra-terea pugnaut 
iritef se, atipic conte'ndunt. 
" IX. Wjfb itli atutiutn, quia pbeta fuit ? post mortem etiam * 
l»itunt: no* Uunc vivum, qui et votuntate et lcgftiis noster 
r^uutliatnus? pra^ertim cum omoc olim studitun, at<nte om/ie 
••■nium'cohtuTerit Archias ad populi ttomani gloriam laudein- 
<jue celebrandum ; rum et Cimbricas res adolescens attigit, et 
i;V4 itli ( f, )C. Mario, qui cUirior ad htec studia videbatur, jucun- 
tUUfiiit. Neque enim quisquam e-t tain aversus a* musis, qui 
njwj mumlari versibusa > U'rnum suorurri labor uro facile pr acorn mi^ 
" patiatur. Themistoelem ilium, suumiura Athenis viruni, dixifce 
aiunt, cum ex.co qua rcrt'tur, quckI acroama, aut cuju* voccin 
litoent'ttsime audutt' Fj(is > a quo sua virtus uptime praedicarctur.. 
haque illeMarius item eximic L. Plptium dilexitv cujus in'genio 
tuitabat ca, qua gelserat, poise eclebnui. Mithridaticum vero 
l>ellum magnum* atque difficile, et in multa varietate terra mari- 
iju6 versatum, totum ab hoc expreisum est; qui libri non modo 
L. Lucullmti, lortiYsimum et clarifsimum virum, verum etiam 
populi Roman i nomen iliustr'ant. '* Pojpulus enim Rom. aperuk, 
Lueullo imperfente, Pontura, et regiis quondam opibus et ipsa 
na&ura regiom^vallatum : populi Romani exercitus, eodem dace, 
non maxima manu, inn umerabiles Armeniorum copias fudit? 
populi Rom. laus est, urbem amiciftimam, Cyzicenor'um, ejus r 
ctem consiho, ex Omni impetu regio,ac toti us belli ore ac fauci- 
bus efeptam - efse atque cohscrvatam : nostra semper femur et 
pfet^icabitur, L. Lucullo drmicante, dim interfectis ducibus de- 
pfretsa hostium clafsis, et ineredibilis apud Tenedum pugna ilia 
nivalis: nostra sunt tropaa, nostra luonmncnta, novtri triumplii; 
cfrfia quorum ingenirs hive tVruntur, ab iis populi Rom. famd 
cftlebratur. ( IJ ) Cams, fuit Airicauo supcrion nostcr Knuiua; 

■ -JEfM ■ ■ ■■■ ■ » . v' ■ ■ ■ ' " ' . , — ^- 

•^lO-) Saxa et solitudines voci respondent, &c.\ Several commentators hi p. 
pose that Cicero hero alludes to the table M Orpbeas, whom the poets, m 
otder to rcprestnt to us the powerful efficacy of poetsv, teipn lo have, 
charmed timers, fion§, woods, aiul trees, by the mu^C^ol his harp. Ac- 
citdi^Ejiy they refer voce am) cavtii to the sahV thing: but th«re seems to 
b« -no- foundation tor this supposition, which revelers the sense of thv pas- 
sage lets, beautiful; and destroys, in some measure, the gradation in the 
ofator.s reasoning. 

C. JMuT'io, cj^i durior ad hicc stadia vidvbatur.~\ The merit of Marjus 
V%s ahogetl'.er milHary; he was void of every accomplishment of learning, 
v'hich he openly affected to despise; . •"" ..." 

\\ l 2^ Cams Uiit Jfricono svperiori rtosfer Erjnius.~\ Ennius was an ancient 
pufli # b^>ru at liudia^ a town o£ CatuL ria.. Tc. wrote several things/of which. 
-ofiTy a few fi^ment^ have reached us. Hear w hat 1 lorac.e says of him : 
Py/viux ipsa pater mtnquavi ?usi pcius ad arn;a 
t fyosiluit dicenda. 



CICERO'S OftATlON*. 290 

toothed by music, and listen to its charms ; and shall we, with 
all the-advantages of the best education, be unaffected with the 
voice of poetry? The Colophonies give out Mat Homer is 
•faeir countryman, the Chians declare that ne is tncirs, the 
Saiaminian* lay claim to him, the people of Smvrna affirm that 
Smyrna gave him birth, and"hare accordingly dedicated a tem- 
ple to him in their city: besides these, manyotner nations con- 
tend warmly for this honour. 

Sect. IX. Do they then lay claim to a stranger even after 
1ms death, on account of his being a poet ; and snail we reject 
this luring poet, who is a Roman both by inclination and the 
U** of llo.ne, especially as he lias employed the utmost efforts; 
of his genius, to celebrate the glory and grandeur of tie Roman 
people/ for, in his youth, he sung the triumphs of C Marius 
over the Citnbri; and even pleased that great general,, who hud 
hot little relish for charms of poetry. Nor is there any person 
so great an enemy to the muses, as not readily to allow jthe 
poet to- blazon his fame, and consecrate his actions to immor- 
tality. Themistocles, that celebrated Athenian, upon bein^ 
asked what music, or whose voice was most agreeable to hinx? 
is reported to have answered, That mans u y /tv coM best cM- 
brute -his virtues. The same Marius too had a yery high regard 
for L. Plotius, whose genius, he thought, was capable of doing 
justice- to his actions. But Archias has described the whole 
Mithridatic war; a war of such danger and importance, and so 
very memorable for the great variety of its events«both by sea 
and land. Nor does his poem reflect honour only on L. Lu- 
oulhis, that very brave and renowned man, but likewise adds 
lustre to the Roman name. For under Lucullus, the Roman 
people penetrated into Pontus, impregnable till then by means 
of its situation, and the arms of its monarclis; .under him the 
Romans, with no very considerable force, routed the number- 
l«fs troops of the Armenians; under his conduct too, Rome 
has the glory of delivering Cyzicum, the city of our faithful 
allies, from, the rage of a monarch, and rescuing it from tjfie 
devouring jaws of a mighty war. Tie praises of our Meet shall 
ewer be recorded and celebrated, for the wonders performed at 
Tenedos, where tie enemy's ships were sunk, and trieir com- 
manders slain: Such are our trophies, such our monument*, 
such our triumph-;. Those, therefore, whose genius describes 
these exploits, celebrate likewise the praises of the Roman 
name. Our Ennius was greatly beloved by the elder Africanus, 



Scipio Africanus had a great regard for him ; and, according to Valerius 
Maximus, erected his statue among the monuments of the Cornelian family. 

V2 




500 M. T. GieiHONlS ORATIONES. 

itaque etmni' in sepulcbro SciptonuA ptitatur is else constitute 
e marmore. At lis laudibns cei te doii »oJuni ips),,^ iauUantuf, 
sed eriam popufi Rom. tr ;uen oniatur* (") lu ccjlIuiu irujus 
proa v us i'ato tollitur; uia^nus honos popuii Rom. rebus adjuu* 
€T«t%tr ; omnes deiiique ilh Maxuui, >WceHi, Fulvii w>u tu* 
cummuni omnium nostium laude decorantur. 

X. Kr«*o iIItlld, qui ha c fecerat, Rudium ljominem mujwes 
wxtri in civitatem reOeprrunt : nos hum: lleracliensem, inukis 
civitat,ibus expetibum, in hac autcm le^ibus constitutmn, de 
nostra civitate ejicjemus ? Nam si quis minorem glorke tructuru 

:mcnter 

ibu*,. 

i re? 

live, qua* pefshnus, orbis tome reg4onibus deviniuntur; cupera. 
defctemu's, 0,110 minus manuum nostr^rum tela pcrvty^ruit,codQni». 
gtoViu r rti fariiamqne p^hetrare: (mod .cv»U. q*>is _popuus, dm> 
qOWKmrfcHim scribituf, Iulc auipla sunt ; turn us certe, qui do. 
van' £lori& causa dimicant, hoc maximum et pericuiorum ju>r 
chitmrtttmn est, et iaborum.. Qaam mujtos senptores reruui 
sifttNmY fnagnus ilte Alexander sccum bab.uiise djcitur.* Atquc 
•i^tirm^iiciun in Sigeo act Achillis tuumlum adstiuiset, U.t'or* 
tQ'fiuti^'incrujt, adolescents, qui tua? virtues Homeruni pracooeia 
iiweneri*.l agt v^re; naui ni*i liias ilia exstitifset, ije» tumulus*. 
qWl Corpus cjftsicbntVxeiat, nomenetiam obruil'set. Quid ? noster 
hitf'Maguus, qui cum virtute ibrtunam adavquavit, nonueTheo- 
phatlem Nfit£lcnaum, scriptorem reruui suaium, in concione 
upturn bivitate donavit .?_ et nostri ilii fortes vni, sed rustic! ac. 
iuwrv*,' ! dulcediiie quadam gloria- commoti* quasi participese'^u*-^ 
detthflandis, uiagno illud eiamoro approbaverunt j Itaque, credo, .-. 
si cltirf'Koru. Archias Ie»*bus non el^etj ut ab ;diquo unperatore 
civitate donaretiir, perficere non potuit? Svifa, cum Uispanos 
etfOa^tj donavct, credo, hunc petentem ren\idiai*set : quern uus 
in co'ncfone vidimus, cum ei liueilum inalus poeta de popuio 
sur>jeCii*<et, quod epknramma in* cum feeijset tuntummodo alter* 
nis verSrtms lonjiuc ft« laflry ex ii* rebus cjuas tunc vendebat, 
^ubere cl ;* ■*'■ In., sub ca ecHiuiugiie^ ne <mid postea - 

tc¥&bl& Qun . .a u-di p(x ; iu.' duxevit aliquu taiueu 

pnrtS\io , 6 ; ;:.l L.uu.in ci viitutem in scribeudp«jt C4H 

piriHi'H }- . Ului 1 aCl Me^ilo 1'io, tamiiiai-iisimo :uo, 



. 



'-■ ' - f — 



fbitituf ] Py \ivjut our orator f roball/ 

rr.rswH j^w't^^a^jtiJt.vs 1^ e ^ r i vc i n o;it' u ,j,s j s Cato Major, .wuo, ut- 
;-y.ifc»u«j U.Ltv v, ^..^ , , : ■:*i-^«ijra!. irt able la\v)d-mnd stateiman, aiid a 

i> 

' ; . . , ; • •• 



crcR*o*s O* AT 10 VS. 301 

4Hi& T 1ibC0ttimtfY he is thought to huve a marble statue amongst 
tAtV^nonumciitt ut' the ScipioV But those praises are not ap- 
-|W*Of>rtat«irtot>ieiuHriiMliat^sul)'jwt>iof thoin ; rhe whole Uoman 
people has a *h*re1tf them. Cato, tin- an« t<»r pj " the judge. 
ncre present, is highlv celebrated for his virtues", ami from this 
the Unmans themselves derive great honour: In a word, the 
M**fmt, the Marcolli, the Fulvii cannot be §ra^Jj without 
pi^mgevfrrv Roman. 

• Ke^t. X. DM our ancestors then confer the freedom oi 
Koitie'on hhu who sung the praises of l»er heroes, on u native 
of Knd;r , and shall we thrust this Ilcracleuu out of Home, who 
MM been courted by many cities, and whom our laws iiavc 
i*lA<ie a Uomau P For if any one imagines that lefs glory jU *le- 
ri^d from the Greek than from the l^tin poet, he is greatly 
misuuVeiVrthc Greek language is understood in almost ever.)' 
natier*, wliereas the Latin is confined to Latin terrirories, terri- 
tories -'fcatrerheiy narrow. If our exploits, therefore, have 
reached the Utmost liitiits of the earth, we ought to be desuou> 
that bw glory and fame should extend as fai as our arms: fqr 
as thebe operate powerfully on the people whose actions are re- 
corded j so to those who expose their lives for the sake of 
glory, they are the grand motives to toils and danger?. How 
many persons is Alexander the Great reported to have carried 
along with him, to write his history I And yet, wtoeii lie stood 
by the tomb of Achilles at Sigivum ; Happy youth, he cried, 
who cookl find a Bonier to blazon thy fame ! And wliat he said, 
was*rue; for had it not been for the* Iliad, his ashes au<i Jauie 
had been buried in the same tomb. Did not Fompey the 
Great, whose Virtues were equal to his fortune, confer u\e i'ree- 
dom of Home, in the presence of the military afsemblv, ujkmi 
Theophanes of Mitvlene, who sung his triump is ? And these 
Romans 'of ours, men brave indeed, but unpolished, and mere 
soldiers, mored with the charms of glory, gave shouts of 
applause, as if they had shared in the honour ot their 
leader. Is it to be supposed then that Arvhlas» if our laws 
had no t made him a citizen of Koine, con I not have ob- 
tained his freedom from some general ? Wo, Id Svlla, who con- 
ferred the rights of citizen>hip on G.tulsau d Spaniard*, Pave 
refused the suit of Archias ? That S\ lla whom we saw in an 
afscmbly; when a bad poet, of obscure L :n, presented him a 
petition upon the merit of havmg written an epigram in his 
praise of unequal hobbling verses, order him to be instaauv ie»- 
warded oujt ol an estate he was selling at tiaa U ne, on jondition 
he should write no more verses. Would he, Who even tl eigb\ 
the industry of a bad poet worthy of some reward, not have 
been fond of the genius, tin.' spirit, and cl»». r icn< i of \rc. »as ; 
Could our poet, neither bv tusou u interest, nor Out ol the LucuUk 



302 M. T. dO£B.OKIS O8.ATI0NES. 

qui civitate muttos donarit, neque per se, neque p*r Luc*U*> 
impc trartfset > qui pr^sertim usque eo de su^ rebus scnbi 
cuperet, etiam (■'*) Cordubae nutis poStis pingtie quiddam sonai>- 
tibus atque pevegrinum, taxuen aures &ua* dederet. 

XL Neqne enim est hoc dtfsimulandum, quod obsjpurari non 
potest ; sed pr?e nobis farendurn ; trahimur omneslaudis studio, 
et optimus quisque maxime gloria ducitur. liii i'psi philosophy 
etiam in iilis Jibellis, quos de contemnenda gloria scribuni, 
nomen suum inscribunt: in eo ipse, ia quo pra v dicationeui 
uouilitaten&que despicjunt, praedjcari se ac nominari vol nut. 
( ,$ ) Decimus quidem Brutus, summits ille vir, et imperator, 
(*") Attn, amiciisioii su> carrainibus, tenapiorum ac raonumen- 
tqrum aditus exornavit quorum. Jam vero ilje, qui cum 
^Etolis, Ennio comite, btdlavit Fulvius, lion dubitarit Martis 
maauhUs musis consecrare. Uu^re, in qua urbejraperatores 
prope armati poeurum iiotnen, et musarum delubra coiuerunt, 
in ea uon deocnt togati judices a musarum lionore, et i 
poeuirum salute abhorrere. Atque ufc id libeotius taciatis. 
jam me vobL, judices, indicabo, et de meo quocLam amore 

flora; nimis acri t'ortafse, verumtauien honesto, vobis conntebor. 
fain quas res nos in cousulatu nostro vobiscum simul pro 
salute aujus uybi$ atque imperii, et pro vita crviura, proque 
uplvecsa republ. gekimus, (') attigit hie versibus, atque in- 
choavit : quibus auditus, qu^d mihi magna res et jucunda 
visa est, liuuc ad perriciendum hortatus sum. Nullam enim 
. virtus aliam raercedem luborum periculorumque desiderat, 
piaster hanc laudis et gloria* : qua quidem detract!, judicea, 
quid est quod in hoc tam exiguo vitse curriculo, et tarn bnevi, 
tantisnosUboribusexerceamUs ? Ceite si nihil animus praesenti ret 
t in posterum, et si, quibus regionibus vitse spatium circumscrip- 
tum est, eisdem bmnes cogitutiones terminaret suas; nee tantis 
se li&oribus 'frangeret, ncque tot curis vigiliisque angeretur, 
neque toties de yita ipsa diiuicaret. Nunc insidet quaedam in 
optimo quoque virtus, quae nocteset dies animum gloriae stimulis 
roncitat, atque admouet,- non cum vita? tempore else dimitten- 
dam commemoratibnem npminis nostri, sed cum omni posteji- 
tate avkequ.vi'd an. 

(14) Cordubte natis pe'etis') Corduba was a city of Hispania Bfctica ; it 
£ave birth to several bad potts, whose barbarous and bombast manner of 
witting Cicero here touches upon. 

(15) Decimus quidem Brutus, summus iltexir.'] This pecimus Brutus wa$ 
eonsui vith $c»f>tf> in 4be >ear «>f Borne 6IG, and going general into Spain 
routed sixty thousand of "the Gallaccians, for which he got the surname of 
£aH«cius. 

(it) Attii, atnicifsimx sui carmimbvs] Thjs AUius, or Accius, was 
a dramatic poet ; he is mentioned in the tenth satire of the first book of 
Horace : 

Nil comis trcgici mutat Jbtci/ius Jcci T 
- (17) Atti£it hie icrsibus, atque inchvavii.] From the great character given 



CICERO^ ORATIONS, 30 i 

have obtained from his intimate' tVicnd Q, Metdlus P'Ui LUc 
freedom- of Rome, which he bc.-auvxed .so .freuucntly upo;i 
others? Ksjxxially as Mctellus uas .->o wry desirous ot' haying 
his actions celebrated, that lie wo* i :vcu suincwlut i4ea.sed w»th 
the dull and barbarous verses of the poets bom at Coraubu. 

Skct. XI. Nor ought we to d&emt»!e this truth, which Can- 
not be concealed^ but dclrre it open!\ we arc all influenced 
bv the love of praise, iand the greatest mind's* Have the -rc.tr.'i 
pahuon for glorv. Trie philosopher* thcTnse'Nes prefix t 
names to those books wTiicli tney wrjtd upon the contempt of 
glorv ; bv which thev show that they are desirous of praise and 
fame, wfiile they affect to elegise the.n. Decimus Hrmu>, 
that great commander and excellent man, attorned the monu- 
ments *>f his family, and the jiaUTs of his temples, with tjiV 
verses "of his intimate friend, Attius, and Fulvius, who matte 
war witft' the /KtoUans, attended by Knhius, did not scruple to 
consecrate the spoils of Mnrs to the inifse>. In that city there 
fore where generals, with their anus almost h> their hands, have 
reverenced the shrines of the ' mu-es and the natiie of pb'eti; 
surelv magistrates in their robes and in times of peace, ought 
uot to be averse to honouring the one, or protecting the oth$k\ 
And to engage you the more readily to -this, my lords, I will 
lav open the very sentiments of my heart before yob, and freely 
confets my pafsion for glory, which, though too keen perhaps, 
is however virtuous. For what I did in conjunction with you, 
during my consulship, for the safety of this city and empire* 
for the lives of my fellow-citizens, and for the interests of the 
state, Archias intends to Celebrate in verse, and has actually 
begun his poem. Upon reading what he has wrote, it appeared 
to me so sublime, and gave me so much pleasure, that I en- 
couraged him to go on with it.' Tor virtue desires no other 
reward for her toils and dangers, hut praise and glory : take 
but this away, my lords, and what is there left in this short, 
this scanty career of human, life, that can tempt us to engage 
in so many and so great labours' Surely, if the mind had no 
.thought of futurity, if she confined all her views within those 
limits which bound our present existence, she would neither 
waste her strength in so great toils, nor bar rats herself with so 
iwdny cares and watehings, nor struggle so often for life itself : 
but there is a certain principle in the breast of every good man, 
which both day and night quickens him to the pursuit of glorv, 
ami puts him in mind that his fame is not to be measured bv 
the extent of his present life, but that it runs parallel with the 
line of posterity. 



of the talents and genius of Archias, we .cannot help rctrrettin^ the eiitir<* 
lofs of his works. Mis poe;n on Cicero':, consulship, was probably never 
iNiEsbed.iaiLtfe.jtuU no farmer mention of it in any of lus Utter writyigs. 



S<H ! M. T. CZ€Jr***l* ©*AT10K«. 

XII. | Art YMt lam parvi *a uni videamur ef a* mrm efc , qui 3n 
repub. atque an bis.ritm periculis Jfcbortmisque versamur, irg 
cpoi u^que. ad extremum apatiujB, milium tranquilium at que 
ouowio* *pir>tuni duserifous, Dobiscum ruimI moritura on una 
ariaittre-mur ? An cum statuaset imagines, nou animorum simu- 
lacra* pod corporum, studiose rnulti sumini homines reliquerunt, 
con^ibu^uiU'iclin (uere ac virtutum nostrarum eftigiem uonne 
multo Biaiie deueiiius, summJM in gen us cgpre&am ct pohtana? 
Egy ver© omnia, quae gerebam, jam turn in gerendo spargere 
rue ac ddsuminarearmVabar in 01 bis terra 1 menioriam senipitctv 
na#a. Haec vero *ive a nneo sensu post motteoj abfutura sum, 
M^e, ut, - ^pientifsimi homines putaverunt, ad aliquam annul 
mei partem pertipebunt, nunc quiuera certe cogitatione qufidam, 
s ^0qne Selector. Quare, conservate, judices, homiuem pudore 
ep* quern amicorunxMudiis videtis comprobari turn dignitatc, 
turn etiam venusute: ingenio autem Unto, quantum id con» 
veniKftKi'sfctnai'i, quod summoruui hominum ingeniis expe* 
tiuiw else v;dea i*;caisa vero ejusmodi, qua; beuehcio l^gis, 
au^orkate munjeipn, testimonio Lucuiii, tabulis Metellt corn* 
pjjoj^etur. Qua; cum ita shit : petimus a vobis, judices, si qua 
npn roodo luunana, vcrum ctiam divina in tantis negotiis corny 
i^^datio debet else ; ut eum, qui vos, qui vestros imperatores^ 
qu^populi Roman i rest gestas semper ornavit, qui etiam his 
recentibus nostris vestrisque domesticis periculis, sternum se 
testimonium Juudum daturum eTse pro6tetur> qui que est eo 
numta-o^ qui. semper apud omnes sancti sunt babiti atque dicti, 
*if.in 4 yestran» jaccipiatis fidem, ut huma«i$ate vestr,* Jeratua 
pot\us,t quam acerbitatei violatus ejie videajtur. Quae de causa* 
px^mea consuetudme* brcviter simpliciterque dixi, judices, ea 
conftdo prolxita efse omnibus: qua? non fori, peque judicial! 
c<jn»uetudine, et de bpminis ingenio, .et couuxiuniter de ipsiua 
st&feo Jocutus stun ea, judices, a vobis spero else in bonaiu 
jp§0UBBt ucccpta : ab eo, qui judicium execcet, certc acio. 

. . • : lib . •- • 



\6 C 
^T3IClltoVr>MX*ieWfc- T M 30$ 

^ior. XH . €jb wcv «who *re eng*ged4n *h« affarfiof*he stnte, 
anil iuUbmanv toils atltl dungers, tumk lo meanly, as 10 imagine 
tout, alter a lite of uninterrupted Care and trouble, notniog^hall" 
remain of a* after death ? If many aft'* greatest men Uavi beet* 
careful teiietrT«:»ie«r$uttw^nci jjicttt#es,-<h««i i*pre*sm«tta*r% 
not of their minds, bat of their bodies; ought not we to be - 
imicu more desirous of leafing *be portraits of our enterprises* 
and virtues- drawn and finished by -the most-ettMnem artists? As ' 
J or roe, 1 liave alwaVs imagined, irtwHtT wan eri£ag*d- ita «t6mg' 
whatever I nave done, that i was spreading mv action* over the ' 
whole earth, and 'that tti*V tronid'be'helrt m eW ial ivm*K : 
branoe. • Bwt wnetiver I Stall! lo>e mv consttioiteue& of tfcia at 
death, or whetherras the wisest mcn'ttav*c*thotIgtat7 nflfalT*-"* 
tain > it :- after, «l present the thought dttUg .«■* me, and nfcv mind 
i* tidied -vtiti* piecing hopes, Dondt then deyrire us^tt^Jovds*, » 
of. a man whonv modesty, a gracetut numner, en^aging 4 ^^ 1 ' 
vioqr, <and the arVeetnonfr of his friends, so^wujlv re<fomttieud{ ' 
tbe^reatm^^o*^Wieac.frena»s. mav oe estimated from thi<^ that* 
he isjcourtod byithe most e.maeut men of Home; and whose* 
plea, is such, rfiat ifcbas tiie law m its iavour, the authority of a 
municipal town, die testimony ot Lucullus, and t;>e register of 
AjetoikiS. , *Tl lis being tjhc case, we be^ of you, mv lords, sino** 
ioriuttters* of sudb importance, not only the mtercei'sion of men, 
but of gods, is necefsary, tiiat the man WfeW has aUvavs cele- 
brated your virtues, those of your "eneraJs, and the victorhss, 
of die Roman people; who decLreN teat he will raise eternal 
mouuments to your % prise and- mine, for Our conduct in Otordatfe 
dpoiesric dangers, and who is 01 the number ot t.iose t *at Imte 7 
e«er been accounted and pronounced divine, may be so pro- 
tected by you, as to have greater reason to apptaud your gene- 
rosity, than to complain ot your rigour. What I have -said) mv 
lords, concerning 'this cause, witi my usual brevity and simpli- 
city, is, 1 ana confident, approved by ail : what I aa^o advanced 
upon poetry in general, and the genius of the defendant, con- 
trary to the usage of the forum and the bar, will, I hope, oe 
taken in good part bv you ; by him who presides upon the 
bench, I am convinced it v. ill. 



m*mm — ■ i . i timtjm 



ORATIO X* 



PRO M. COELIO* 

pip . ' . *.. i " i urn r i 



I quis, indices, fbrte nunc adsitigaiariis tegiira, judictofnttfi, 
cimsuetudinis . iroatrae ; miretur profecto, q&e sit tantk 



O 

atrcteitas huio&ctexrjfis*, quod diebas testis, ludisqufe pabij^. 

witnihas negotiis forensibus Tnteroaifcisv-iiiium hoc judiciflfti 

t«*tencdatafrl net dubitet quin tanti facinoris tcus 'arguatur, tft, 

««l iieglecto, civitas stare iron pofjif; idem, cum audiareflfe 

4egten% ~qu« de seditfosis consceleratisque crvibns, qui armati 

: nenatum obsederint, niagistratibus vitu^attnieTint, rempublican) 

*>ppUgnariht, quotidie quairr jubeat; ieg^di'Dob ir»pire4*#; 

oitften quod vei&etur in judicio, requrrat : cotH audiat, nullum 

.iaciiras, nullum audaclam, anMam vim in judicrnrii vocari ; sed 

^adolescentem itiustri ingenio, indusrria, gratia, arcn sari ab e\\\s 

(flfcy (*} qnetn ipse in judicium «t tocet; et YOGAm;.' oppngnari 

auterh tijaibtis- meretriciis -, Atnrtmi illiirt pietatem rion renrri- 

"iKIfrtat, mnhebrem hbtdinem comprimendam putet : vos JBK- 

-fiwsfcs eitiktfaner, qnibnfe otinsiv n© m conimunr quidbtw otib, 

'^toflt efse. Ktenlm si aftemlere- diligenter, exfstmiare vfcrS $e 

worn hiq causa TOluerrtte ; sic congtit«eti»;judices;TJeb-tiesceii- 

'fcfcrttia queinquam ad 1ianca«ou9attoneini«^jcui > 'titt^ veitef, 



' ^^^ftfcwt^tfiHwas a.ymfn* g*mh rharf of equestrian rank/ of a £ne 
^yeiiuU and f«reat accomplishmeuts, trained tthdcr the dritl^irtrffcf Ctcerb 
^fiimifltfs to whose ewe he was committed Jt>y his father, iijivn hts ;6rst jn- 
ttoduction into the forum. Before lie was of 4ge to bold any magistracy* 
had distinguished himself by two public impeachments; the one of 
< . rtntoriiu*. Cicero's collca^e in-ine-coimriship, for conspiring against 
the state; the other of L. Atratinus, 4br bribery and corruption. Atra- 
tinus's son revenged his father's quarrel, and accused Coelius of public vio- 
""leTTce, of beinc the friend of Catiline, of Being conce?H'ecf in the afsafsiha- 
tion of Dio, the chief of the Alexandrian embafsy, of an attempt to poison 
. .-C'itnfcfrthe sister o/ Clod iti*, a lady of an infainous character, and of se- 
veral other primes. Cutltus had been.Clodia's gallant, and hvr resentment 
lor his slighting her favours was^e reaj suurce of al| h$^t*oui)le. in this 
oration, which was made in the 697th year of Rome, and 5 1st of Cicero's 
age, he is defended by Cicero, aud was acquitted. 



ORATION X. 



FOR CO EL I US. 



Sect. I. TF it should happen, my lords/that there- is any one 
A present who is unacquainted with our laws, our 
judicial proceedings, and the forms of .our, courts, it must cer- 
tainly be matter of surprise to such a person, what can render 
this cause of so very heinous a nature, that it alone should' be 
tried on festival days, during the celebration of public sports, 
and a total suspension of businefs in the forum ; and he will un- 
doubtedly conclude, that the accused is charged with crimes of 
so atrocious a nature, that not to inquire into them, would be to 
overturn the state. When this person shall be told, that there 
is a lav/ -for bringing to trial, on any day, such seditious and 
profligate citizens as have in arms beset the senate, offered 
violence to the magistrates, or made an attack upon the com- 
monwealth, he may still, without disapproving the law, desire 
to know what crime it is that is trying. And when he is in- 
formed that there is no crime depending, no audacious enter^ 
prise;, no act of violence; but that a young man of distin- 
guished genius, application and interest, is accused by one 
whose father has been for some time past, and i-s at this, present 
time, under prosecution at his instance ; that he is attacked 
by the power of a prostitute ; he will not blame the piety of 
Atratinus, will think that a check ought to be given to female 
lewdne'fs, and will look on yours as a laborious office, who, even 
during a season of general festivity, cairhave no relaxation. < If, 
my lords, you consider this whole cause attentively, and form a 
proper judgment concerning it, you must conclude, that no one 



(1) Que?} i ipse hi judicium et vocet, et vocaret.'] Coelius had some time be- 
fore impeached L. Atratinus, the father, for bribery, of which he was ac- 
quitted ; and had now brought him to a second trial. 



30$ M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Jiceret; nee, cum descendifset, quidquam habiturum speifuifse, 
nisi alicujus intolerabili libidine, et nimis acerbcr-odioniteretur ; 
sed ego Atratino, humamfsimo atque optimo adolescent!, meo 
Fseceikirio, ignosco, q i habet excusationem vel pietatis, vel 
itecefsititis", vel abatis : si voluit accusare, pietato tribui ; si 
jafsus est, necefsitati ; si sperayit aliquid, puentiae , caeteris non 
kapdp nihil ignoseendum, sed etiara acriter est fesistendum. 

II. Ac mihi quideni videtur, judices, hie introitus defensionis, 
adolescentiaD M. Coelii maxime convenire, ut ad ea qua? acc.u- 
satores, deformandi hujus causa, detrahendae spoliandaeque 
dignitatis gratia dixerunt, primum respondearn. Objectus est 
pater varie, quod aut parum splendidus ipse, ant parum pie 
tractatus a ftho diceretur. De dignitate, Coelius notis ac ma- 
joribus natu, etiam sine meaoratione, tacitus facile ipse respon- 
dent ; quibus antem propter senectutem, quod jam diu minus in 
faro nobiscam versatur, non acque est cognitus; hi sic habeant : 
cjuacctmque in equite Romano dignitas else posit, quai certe 
potest else maxima, earn semper in M. Ccelio habitam -else sum- 
mam, hodieque haberi, non solum a suis, sed etiam ab omni- 
bus, quibus potuerit aliqua de causa else notus. Equites autem 
Komuni else filiuni, crmiinis loco poni ab accusatoribus neque 
his judicantibus oportuit, neque defendentibus nobis. Nam quod 
de pietate dixistis, est quideni ista nostra existimatio, sed judi- 
cium certe parentis: quidnos opinemur, audietis exjuratis; quid 
parentes sentiant, lacrymaa matris incredibilisque mccror, squalor 
patris, et Kaac presens mcestitia, quam cernitis, luctusque decla- 
rat. Nam, quod est objectum, municipibus efse adolescentein 
^on probatum suis: nemini unquam pnrsenti Puteolani majores 

mores habuerunt, quam absenti M. Ccelio : (mem et absen- 
tern (") in ampliisimum ordinem cooptarunt, et ea non petenti 
iletulerunt. qua multis petentibus denegarunt : iidemque nunc 
lectifsimos viros,et nostri ordinis, et equites Romanoscum lega- 
tion e ad hoc judicium, et cum graviisima atque ornatiisima lau- 
datione miserunt. Videor mihi jecilse f'undamenta defen- 
sionis meae : qua.- firmifsima sunt, si nitantur judicio suorum j 



(2) In ampiifsimum ordinem cooptdrunf] The municipia were commonly 
corporations, or iufrauchised places, where the natives were allowed tht 
use of their old laws and constitutions, and at the same time honoured 
with the privilege of "Roman citizens. They had a little senate, which 
they called curia, and the senators were called decuriones. It was into thi: 
order Calms is here said to have been inrolled. 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. 309 

would have been an accuser in it but by constraint ; nor, if he 
had, would have entertained any hopes of succels^ but from the 
intolerable humour and furious resentment of some other person. 
But I pardon Atratinus, who is a young man of great humanity 
and virtue : my friend ; and may plead piety, necefsity, or age, 
in his excuse, If he accused Ccelius voluntarily, I impute it 
to filial piety; if by command, to neceisity ; if from hopes of 
suecefs, to youth. The' other accusers must not only not be 
pardoned, but they must be opposed vigorously. 

Sect. II. Now, my lords, the youth of Coelius seems to me 
to require, that I open my defence by replying to what his ac- 
cusers have advanced in order to stain his character, to detract 
from, and deprive him of his dignity. His father is differently 
represented ; either as not making a genteel figure in life, or 
as being disrespectfully treated by his son. As to the figure 
his fattier makes, I need say nothing ; old Ccelius himself, to 
such as know him, and are advanced in years, without opening 
his mouth, is a su^icient reply. With regard to those who 
have had but few opportunities of knowing him, as his years 
have long since obliged him to leave off coming to the forum, 
let such know, that whatever dignity the character of a Roman 
knight can admit of, and surely it can admit of the greatest, 
has ever been thought to be displayed by M. Ccelius in its 
highest lustre; and is still, not only by his ow r n relations, but 
by all who have had occasion to know him. That Ccelius is 
the son of a Roman knight, should never have been urged by 
the prosecutor as an accusation, when you, my lords, were on 
the bench, or 1 at the bar. As to what you have alleged in 
regard to his piety, we may indeed give our opinion; but it 
belongs surely to his parents to determine concerning it. What 
our sentiments are, you will hear from the evidences on oath; 
what those of his parents are, is evident from the tears and in- 
exprefsible sorrow of his mother, from that air of dejection in 
the countenance of his father, and that mourning habit wherein 
you see him appear. It is farther objected, that this young 
man is not agreeable to his fellow-citizens : in regard to this, 
the inhabitants of Puteoli never bestowed greater honours on 
any one when present, than they have on M. Coelius when 
absent ; they have, in his absence, inrolled him into their high- 
Zest order, and conferred upon him, unasked, what they have 
denied to the solicitations of many ; they have likewise sent to 
this trial, persons of the greatest distinction, both senators and 
Roman knights, with the strongest and fullest recommendations, 
Methinks I have now laid the ground-work of my defence ; and 
a strong one it is, if it rests on the judgment of those with 
wjiom Ccsuus is most intimately connected. Nor could his age 



310 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATI0NES. 

neque enim vobis satis commendata hujus setas'efse pofset, si 
noil modo parenti tali viro, veriun 'ctia'm municipio tarn illustri 
ac tarn gravi displiceret. 

III. Equidem, utad me revertar, ab .his fohtibus profmxi ad 
hom'.^um famam : et meus hie forensis labor vita que ratio dima- 
navit ad existimationeni hominum paulo latins, commendatione 
ac judicio meorum. Nam, quo'd objectum est de pudicitia, 
quodque omnium accusatorem non criminibus, sed vocibui 
maledictisque celebratum est, id nunquam tarn acerbe feret 
M. Ccelius, ut eum pceniteat non der'ormem else natum ; sunt 
enim ista maledicta pervulgata in omnes, quorum in adolescen- 
tia forma et species fuit liberalis. Sed aliud est maledicere, 
aliud accusare ; accusatio crimen desiderat, rem ut definiat, 
hominem ut notet, argumento {TiObet, teste confirmet, male- 
dictio autem nihil habet propositi, prater contumeliam : qua? si 
petulantius jactatur, convickim ; si facetius, urbanitas nomina- 
tur. Quam quidem partem accusationis admiratus .sum, et 
moleste tuli potifsimum efse Atratino datam ; neque enim dece- 
bat, neque setas ilia postulabat : neque id quod animadvertere 
poteratis, pudor patiebatur optimi adolescentis, in tali ilium 
oratione versari. Vellem ( 3 ) aliquis ex vobis robustioribus hunc 
maledicendLlocum suscepifset ; aliquanto liberius, et fortius, et 
magis more nostro refutaremus istam maledicendi licentiam. 
Tecum, Atratine, agam levins, quod et pudor tuus moderatur 
©rationi meee : et meum erga te, parentemque tuum beneiicium 
tueri debeo. Illud tamen te else admonitum volo : primum 
qualis es, talem te efse existimes : ut quantum a rerum turpi- 
tudine abes, tantum te a \ erborum libertate sejungas : deinde 
lit ea m alteram ne dicas, qua? cum tibi falso responsa sint, 
erubescas; quis est enim, £Ui via ista 11011 pateat ? qui ista 
aetati [atque etiam dignitati] non pofsit, quam velit petulanter, 
jetiam si sine ulla suspicione, at non sine argumento maledi- 
eere ? Sed istarum partium' culpa est eorum qui te agere volue- 
runt : Jaus pudoris tui,,quod ea te invitum dicere videbamus : 
ingenii, quod ornate politequc dixisti. 

IV. Verum ad istam omnem orationeni brevis est defensio j 
nam quoad aetas M. Ccelii dare potuit isti suspicio'ui locum, fuit 
primum ipsius pudore, delude etiam patris diligentia, discipli- 



(3) Aliquis ex vobis robustioribus, &c] By robustiorcs, Gicero means 
liereimius Balbus, and others, who had a share in this prosecution, and 
were farther advanced in years than Atratinus. 



311 

have sufficiently recommended him to your favourable regards, 
had he fallen under the displeasure, not only of such a father, 
but of so Worthy and illustrious a corporation. 

Sect. III. To return to myself ; from this source it is that 
my reputation flows ; my labours at the bar, and the course of 
hie in which I am engaged, have diffused themselves wider 
among mankind in consequence of the praises and judgment of 
my friends. As to what is urged against him by all his accusers 
in regard to chastity, supported indeed not by facts, but mere 
assertions and slander ; Ocellus will never feel it so sensibly as 
to regret that he was not formed ugly by nature; for such 
scandal is common against all who have been distinguished in' 
their youth by a graceful air and a genteel figure. But ta 
scandalize is one thing, and to accuse another. An accusation 
Requires a crime, and this crime must be fixed ; it must mark 
out the person, be proved by arguments, and confirmed by 
evidences: scandalizing has nothing in view but contumely; 
which if it is urged with petulence, becomes.abuse ; if pleasantly,' 
polite raillery. I was indeed surprised, and not a little con- 
cerned, that this part of the accusation should chiefly fall to 
Atratinus ; for it was not a part that became him, nor was it 
proper for his age \ and, as you might have observed, the 
modesty of the worthy youth would not allow him to treat a 
subject of so indelicate a nature. I wish some of you veterans 
had undertaken this province, I should then have given a check 
to that wantonnefs of scandalizing with more strength and free- 
dom, and more in my usual way ; with you, Atratinus, I shall 
deal more softly, both because your modesty is a restraint upon 
Rie, and because I think it my duty to preserve my friendship 
for you and your father. Thus much however, I would put 
you in mind of: in- the first place, to entertain a just sense of 
your own real character, and to keep as great a distance from 
all indecent freedom of speech, as you do from every thing 
that is base and indecent in action ; and, in the next place, never 
to charge another with what would muke yourself blush, were 
you charged with it unjustly. For who is there that may not 
tread the path of scandal? who that may not, with what petu- 
lance he pleases, scandalize such youth; and, how blamelefs 
soever, make it in some measure appeal* guilty ? But the blame 
of what part you have in this accusation, must fall upon those 
who imposed it upon you: to the praise of your modesty be it 
said, that we saw you speak with reluctance ; and to tiiat of 
your genius, that you spoke with elegance and politenefs. 

Sect. IV. There is however a short answer to all this; for 
as long as the age of Ccelius exposed him to such suspicions, it 
was guarded first by his own modesty, and then by the vigi- 

3 



312 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

naque munita: qui lit huic virilcm togam dedit, nihil dicam 
hoc loco de nie: tantum sit, quantum vos existimatis: hoc dicam 
(+) hunc a. patre continuo ad me' efse cleductum ; nemo nunc 
M. Ccelium in ijlo setatis ilore vidit, nisi aut cum patre, aut 
mecuuj, aut in M. Crafsi castifshna. domo, cum artibus honest- 
ifsimus erndiretur. Nam quod Catilina) fannharitas objecta 
Coelio est, longe ab ilia suspicione abhorrere debet; hoc enim 
adolescente, scitis consulatum mecum petifse Catilinam : ad 
quem si accefsit, aut si a, me discefs.it unquam, quamquam multi 
boni adolescentesilli homini nequam atque improbo studuerunt, 
turn existiroetur Cnelius Catilinam nimium iamiliaris fuiise. At 
enim postea seimus et vidimus efse hunc in illius amicis. Quis 
negat? sedegoiilud tempus atatis, quod ipsum sua sponte in- 
firmum, aliorum libidine i n test um est, id hoc loco defend©; 
i'uit afsiduus mecum, piatore me: non noverat Catilinam i 
Africam turn praetor ille obtinebat: secutus est annus; causam 
de pecuniis repetundis Catilina dixit; mecum erat hie: ( 5 ) III i. 
ne advocatus quidem venit. unquam ; deineeps fuit annus, quo 
ego consulatum petivi : petehut Catilina mecum ; n unquam ad 
ilium accefsit, a me nunqua.m recefsit. 

V. Totigitur annos versatus in foro sine suspicione, sine in- 
famia, studuit Catilina? iterum petenti. Quem ergo ad finem 
putas custodiendam illam aetatem fuifse r Nobis quidem olim 
annus erat unus, ad cohibendum brachium toga, constitutus, et 
ut exercitatione ludoque campestri tunicati uteremur : eadem- 
que erat, si statim mereri stipendia cceperamus, castrensis ratio 
acmilitaris; qua in getate, nisi qui se ipse sua gravitate, et 
castimonia, et cum disciplina domestica, turn etiam naturali 
quodam bono defenderat ; quoquo modo a suis custoditus efset, 
tamen infamiam veram effugere non poterat. Sed qui prima 
ilia initia aetatis integra atque inviolata praestitifset ;' de ejus fama 
ac pudicitia, cum Is jam se corroboravifset, ac vir inter viros 
efset, nemo loqtiebatur. Studuit Catilinse, cum jam aliquot 
annos efset, in foro Ccelius, et multi hoc idem ex omni online 



(4) Hunc a patre continuo ad me efse deductum.'] Of all people the Ro- 
mans were the most exact and careful in the education of their children. 
When young gentlemen had finished the course of their puerile studies, it 
was the custom to change the habit of the boy, for what they called the 
manly gown ; and on this occasion they were introduced into the forum 
with much solemnity, attended byali the friends and dependents of the 
family; and after divine riles performed in the capirol, were committed 
to the special care of some eminent senator, distinguished for his eloquence 
or knowledge of the laws ; to be instructed by hiin in the conduct of civil 
affairs, and to form themselves by his example for useful members aud 
magistrates of : the republic. Thus Ccelius was placed junder the care of 
Cicero, who had himself, as we are told in his piece De am/citid, been 
placed under that of Scajvola, the principal lawyer, as well es statesman, 
of that age/ 

(5) Wine adtocatu* quidem venit unquam.'] By advocates Is here meaat 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 313 

lance and instruction of his father, who as soon as he gave him 
the manly gown, (I shall say nothing here of myself, my cha- 
racter is submitted to you; but) this I will say, he was directly 
brought by his father to me. No one saw this M. Cceiius in 
that bloom of life, but either in company with his father, or 
with me, or in the chaste house, of M. Crafsus, where he was 
instructed in the most liberal arts. As to the familiarity with 
Catiline which is objected to Cceiius, there is not the 
least ground for such suspicion. When he was a lad, you 
know "that Catiline stood with me for the consulship : If at that 
time he ever kept him company, or if ever he left me 
(though many worthy young men were attached to that wicked 
and abandoned fellow) then let him be thought to have been 
too familiar with Catiline. We know, however, that he was 
afterwards among the friends of Catiline, and saw him among 
them. Who denies it? But I am only defending that period 
of life, which of itself is naturally weak, and liable to be in- 
fected by the vices of others. During my praetorship, he was 
constantly with me, and did not know Catiline, who was then 
praetor in Africa. The year following, Catiline was tried for 
extortion ; Coelius was with me, ,artd did not evert appear in 
court for him as a friend. The year after, I stood for the con- 
sulship; so did Catiline: Cceiius was never se^n with him; 
from me he never departed. 

Sect. V. Having therefore frequented the forum for so 
many years without suspicion, without infamy, he attached 
himself to Catiline, who stood again for the consulship. How 
long then do you think that youth is to be w r atched ? A year 
was formerly allowed us to learn to keep the ar,m within the 
gown, and to perform our exercises and diversions in the field 
of Mars in our tunics. The same discipline . was observed in 
the camp, and in all military operations, when we began to 
carry arms. During that period, no one could avoid real in- 
famy, whatever care was taken of him by his friends, who had 
not a decency and gravity of behaviour to defend his character, 
andj together with the advantages of private institution^ a kind 
of natural bias to virtue. But whoever pafsed this early part 
of life with honour and without reproach, when he grew up, 
and lived as a man among men, no reflections were ever heard 
against his reputation or chastity. Cceiius favoured Catiline, after 
frequenting the forum for several years : why, this was no more 
than what many others did, of every rank, and of every age. For 



one who attended his friend at his trial. For it was usual, both in public 
and private trials, for the friends and acquaintance of the accused to attend 
him, and to solicit in his behalf. 

X 



514 M« T, CICEUONIS ORATION^. 

atque ex omni sctate fecerunt ; ( 6 ) babuit enim ille, siente ms* 
minifse vos arbitrbr, perniulta maXimarum non exprefsa signa, 
sed adumbrata virtutum: utebatur hominibus improbis multis, 
et quidem optmiis se viris deditum efse simulabat : erant apud 
iliuni illecebne libidinum multae ; erant etiam indu striae quidam 
stimuli aclaboris: rlagrabant vitia libidinis apud ilium; vige- 
bant etiam studia rei militaris : neqne ego unquam fuifse tale 
monstrum in terris ullum puto, tarn ex contrariis diversisque 
inter se ptignantibus naturae studiis cupiditatibusque conflatum 

VI. Quis clarioribus viris quodam tempore jucundior? quis 
turpioribus conjunction ? quiseivis meliorum partium aliquando ? 
quis tetrior hostis huic civitati ; quis in voluptatibus inquina- 
tior- ? quis in laborious patientior ? quis in rapacitate avarior ? 
quis in largitione effusior ? Ilia ver6, judices, in illo bomine mi- 
rabilia fuerunt, cornprebendere muitos amicitia, tueri ohsequio, 
cum omnibus cornmunicare quod habebat, servire temporibus 
suorum x omnium, pecunia, gratia, labore corporis, scelere etiam, 
si opus efset, et audacia: vecsare suam naturam, et regere ad 
tempusjj atque hue et illuc torquere et flectere : cum tristibus 
severe, cum remifsis jucunde, cum senibus graviter, cum ju- 
ventute comiter,. cum facinorosis audacter, cum libidinosis 
luxuriose vivere. Hac ille tarn varia multiplicique natura,cum 
pmnes omnibus ex terris homines improbos audacesque college- 
rat, turn etiam roukos fortes viros et bonos, specie quadam vir- 
tutis afsimuiata^, tenebat ; neqne unquam ex illo deiendi hujus 
imperii tarn consceleratus impetus extitifset, nisi tot vitiorum 

. tanta immanitas quibusdam facilitatis et patientiae radicibus ni- 
. teretur, Qnare ista conditio, judices, respuatur : nee Catilinee 
familiaritatis crimen lire reat ; est enim commune cum multis} 
cum quibusdam etiam bonis. Meipsum, me, inquam, quondam 
pene ille decepit : cum et ciyis mihi bonus, et optimi cujusque 
cupidus, et iirmus amicus ac iidelis videretur ; cujus ego faci- 
nora oculisprh?s,quam opinione, manibusante, quam suspicions, 
depreheudi ; enjus in magnis catervis amiconmi si fuit etiam 
Ot-lius, magis est, ut ipse moieste ferat erraise se, sicuti non- 
nunquam in eodem honnue me quoque erroris mei poenitet, 
quam ut istius amicitia) crimen reformidet. 

VII. Itaque a maledictis .pudicitise ad conjurationis invidiam ora- 
tio estvestra delapsa: posuistis enim, atque id tamen titubanter 



(fi) Habuit enim ille permulta maximarum non exprefsa signa, sed adum- 
braia virlutuvi.~\ Cicero, in several parts of his writings, gives us a just 
character of Ca r filine; but in none a more lively and striking picture than 
in this pafsage. 



cicero's orations. 31.5 

Catiline, as I suppose you remember, had many sketches, 
though not finished pictures, of the greatest virtues; he was fa- 
miliar with many profligate fellows, and yet affected to be de- 
voted to men of the greatest worth. His house furnished out 
several temptations to lewdnefs, and at the same time several 
incentives to labour and industry : It was a scene of vicious 
pleasures, and at the same time a school of martial exercises. 
Nor do I believe there was ever such a monster on earth, com- 
pounded of inclinations and pafsions so very different, and so 
repugnant to each other. 

Sect. VI. Who was ever more agreeable at one time to the 
most illustrious citizens ? who more intimate at another with the 
most infamous ? At one time, what citizen had better principles ? 
and yet who a fouler enemy to Rome ? Who more intemperate 
in pleasure ? who more patient in labour ? Who more rapa- 
cious in plundering ? who more extravagant in squandering? 
Yet this man, my lords, had a surprising faculty of engaging 
many to his friendship, and fixing them by his ooservance : 
Sharing with all of them whatever he had, serving them with 
his money, his interest, his labour, and, if occasion required, by 
the most daring acts of wickedneis ; fashioning his nature ac- 
cording to his purposes, bending and turning it every way at 
pleasure ; living with the morose, severely ; with the free, 
merrily; with the aged, gravely; with the young, cheerfully; 
w r ith the enterprising, audaciously ; with the vicious, luxuriously. 
By such a variety and complication of character, he had got toge- 
ther from every country all the proliigate and audacious, and 
yet preserved the friendship of many brave and worthy men by 
the specious show of a pretended virtue ; nor could he ever 
have made so wicked an attempt to destroy our government, 
had not the so great enormity of his many vices had some sup- 
port from a flexibility and hardinefs of temper. Let that part 
of the accusation then, my lords, be rejected ; nor let the fami- 
liarity with Catiline be any more urged as a crime, for it is 
common to Ccelius with many others, and even some very- 
worthy men. There was a time when I myself, I say, when I 
was almost deceived by him ; when he appeared to me a good 
citizen, an admirer of every worthy man, a firm and a faithful 
friend. I was not convinced of his crimes till after I saw them; 
nor did I suspect them, before I had felt them. If Ccelius made 
one of the great nu Tiber of his friends, he has more reason to 
regret his mistake, as I sometimes do mine in regard to the same 
person, than to dread being charged with being the friend of 
Catiline. 

Sect. VII. Thus, from bringing a scandalous accusation of an 
intrigue against Cceiius, you have proceeded ta load him with the 

X 2 



316 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATIONES. 

et strictim, conjurationis hunc, propter amicitiam Catilinse, par- 
ticipcm tnii^e : in quo non modo crimen non hserebat, sed vix 
diserti adolescentis cohoerebat oratio. Qui enim tantus furor in 
Coelio ? quod tantum aut in moribus naturaque vulnus, aut in re 
at que fortuna? ubi denique est in ista suspicione Ccelii nomen 
auditum ? Nimium multa de re minime dubia loquor : boc ta- 
men dico, non modo si socius conjurationis, sed nisi inimicifsi- 
mus istius sceleris fuifset, nunquam conjurationis accusatione 
adolescentiam suam potifsimum commendare voluifset: quod, 
baud scio, an de ambitu, et de criminibus istius sodalium ac 
sequestrium,quoniam hue incidi, similiter respondendum putem ; 
nunquam enim tarn Ccelius amens fuifset, ut si se isto infinito 
ambitu commaculaiset, ambitus alter um accufaret : neque ejus 
facti in altero sUspicionem qutereret, cujus ipse sibi perpetuam 
licentiam optaret: nee, si sibi semel periculum ambitus sub- 
eundum putaret, ipse alter um iterum ambitus crimine arcefseret : 
quod quanquam nee sapienter, et me invito facit, tamen est 
ejusmodi cupiditatis, ut, fnagis insectari alterius innocentiam, 
quam de se timide cogitare videatur. Nam quod ais alienum 
objectum est, sumptus reprebensi, ( 7 ) tabulae fiagitatse : videte 
quam pauca respondeam. Tabulas, qui in patris potestate est, 
nullas conficit. ( 8 ) Versuram nunquam omnino fecit ullam. 
Sumptus unius generis objectus est, habitations : triginta milli- 
bus dixistis eum habitare ; nunc demum intelligo, ( 9 ) P. Clodii 
insulam efse venalem, cujus hie in aediculis habitet, decern, ut 
opinor, millibus; vos autem, dum illi placere vultis, ad tempus 
ei mendacium vestrum accommodavistis. Reprehendistis, a 
p atre quod scmigrarit : quod quidem jam in hac setate minime 
reprehendendum est ; qui, cum et ex reipub. causa efset, 
( ,0 ) mini quidem moiestam, sibi tamen gloriosam victoriam 
consecutus, et per eetatem magistratus petere polset non modo 
permittente patre, sed etiam suadente, ab eo semigravit: et, 
cum dbmus patris a foro longe abefset, quo facilius, et nostras 
obire domos, et ipse a suis coli polset, conduxit in Palatio, non 
magno, domum. 



(7) Tabuhe fiagitaU\~] It was usual among the Romans, for masters of 
families to keep books of accounts, wherein they regularly marked down 
every clay whatever money they either received or expended. 

(8) Versuram nunquam omnino fecit ■ullam.'] Versuram jacere generally 
signifies to take up money of one at a great interest, in order to pay a debt 
to another, or simply to change one's creditor; but here it signifies only 
to borrow money. 

(9) P. Clodii insulam efse venale?n.'] Byinsula is here meant either several 
houses joined together, or one house only, with the street on every side. 

(10) Mihi quidem moiestam, sibi tamen gloriosam victoriam consecutus 
efset..'] What is here referred to is, Ccelius's impeachment of Caius Antonius, 
Cicero's colleague in: the ednstri^hip., and defended by him, but cast and 
banished. 



N CJC.ERq's ORATIONS. 317 

odium of being. engaged in a conspiracy. For you have alleged, 
though not without hesitation, and in a superficial manner, that 
because he was the friend, he was therefore the accomplice of 
Catiline : an accusation., on which not only no crime could be 
founded, but scarcely could the eloquent youth talk coherently 
when he urged it. Why all this fury in Ccelius? whence this 
foul stain in his character and disposition, or distrefs in his cir- 
cumstances and fortune ? To add no more, where did Ccdius 
ever lie under such a suspicion ? But I spend too much time in a 
matter so very evident. Thus muck, however, I will add, that 
if Ccelius had been engaged in that conspiracy, nay if he had 
not held it in the utmoit abhorrence, he would never have 
thought of recommending himself in his youth, by bearing a 
part in impeaching the conspirators. And 1 know not whether 
I may not return the same answer to the charge against his am- 
bition, and the crimes of his companions and afsociates, now 
that I am upon that subject. For if Ccelius had brought a stain 
upon his own character by plunging so deep into corruption, 
he would never have been so foolish as to.a^ocuse another of the 
same practices; nc-r would he have endeavoured to render ano- 
ther suspected of what he wished that he himself might always 
have the liberty of doing; nor would he have twice accused 
another of corruption, if he had thought that he himself was 
once to be tried for it ; which though he did both imprudently, 
and contrary to my inclination, yet such is his temper, that he 
chooses rather to attack the innocence of another, than to seem 
afraid for his own. As to the debts which are objected to him, 
the expenses for which he is blamed, and the books of accounts 
which are demanded, my answer shall be very short. One who 
is under the direction of his father, keeps no books of accounts; 
as to mortey, he has never borrowed any; and the only article 
of expense with which you charge him is his house, lor which 
you say he pays thirty thousand sesterces a year. Now at last 
1 see that the house of Clodius is to be sold, a small part of 
which Ccelius rents for ten thousand sesterces a year, as I ima- 
gine: but you, out of a desire of pleasing him, have made this 
lie to serve a present purpose. You blame him for taking a se- 
parate house from his father ; a thing for whicb^ at this time of 
life, he is far from being blameable. Flaving, in a public cause, 
gained a victory, to me indeed disagreeable^ but to himself glo- 
rious ; and bejng of an age to stand for .offices, his father not 
only allowed, but advised him to leave his house; which being 
a great way oif from the forum, he hired one at a moderate rent 
upon the Palatiuin, that he might be nearer our houses, and that 
it might be more convenient for his friends to wait upon him. 
3 

X3 



318 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

VIII. Quo loco pofsum dicere id, quod vir clarifsimus 
M. Crafsus, (") cum de adventu regis, Ptolemaei quereretur, 
paullo ante dixit, Utinam ne in nemore Pelio — Ac longius qui- 
dem mihi contexere hoc carmen liceret: Nam nunquam herd 
errans hanc molestiam nobis exhiberet, Medea animo agra> 
amove scew saucia. Sic enim, judices, reperietis (quod, cum ad 
id loci venero, osteiidam) ( I2 ) hanc Paiatinam Medeam, 'migra- 
tionemque huic adolescenti causam sive malorum omnium, sive 
potius sermonum fuile. Quamobrem ilia, quae ex accusatorum 
oratione praemuniri jam, et fingi intelligebam, fretus vestra pru- 
dentia, judices, non pertimesco. Aiebant enim fore testem se- 
natorem, qui se pontificiis comitiis pulsatum a Ccelio dicerit; a 
quo quseram si prodierit, priinum cur statim nihil egerit? d'ein- 
de, si id queri, quam agere maluerit, cur productus a vobis po^ 
tius, quam ipse per se? cur tahto post potius, quam continuo, 

, queri maluent? Si mihi ad haec acute arguteque responderit ; 
turn quaeram denique, ex quo iste fonte senator emanet? nam si 
ipse qrietur et nasc^.ur ex sese, fortafse, ut soleo, commovebor ; 
( 13 .) sin autem est rivulus arcefsitus et ductus ab ipso capite ac- 
cusationis vestrae, laetabor, cum tanta gratia tantisque opibus 
accusatio vestra nitatur, unum senatorem solum else, qui vobis 
gratificari vellet, inventum. Nee tamen illud genus alteram 
fiocturnorum testium pertimesco; est enim dictum ab illis, fore 
qui dicerent, uxores suas a coena redeuhtcs attrectatas else a 
Ccelio. Graves erunt homines, qui hoc jurati dicere audebunt : 
cum sit his confitendum, nunquam se, ( l4 ) ne congrefsu quidem 
et constitute, ccepifse de tantis injuriis experiri. 

IX. Sed totum genus oppugnationis hujus, judices, et jam 
prospicitis animis, et, cum inferetUr, propulsare debebitis; non 
enim ab iisdem accusatur M. Ccelius, a quibus oppugnatur ; palam 
in eum tela jaciuntur, clam subministrantur. Neque id ego dico, 
ut iiividiosum sit in eos, quibus gloriosum hoc etiam efse debet : 
funguntur officio : defendunt suos: faciunt quod viri fortifsira 



(U) Cu?n de advevtu regis Piolsmci'i qncrerdur.'] Ptolemy king of Egypt, 
being driven out of 'Jus kingdom, went to Koine to beg help and protection 
against his rebellious subjects, who sent deputies alter him, to plead their 
cause before the senate, and to explain the reasons of their expelling him ; 
most of whom he contrived to have afsaisinated on the road, before they 
reached the city. But it was objected to Camus, that he had beaten these 
deputies at Puteoli; which part pf the accusation when Crafsus, who had 
defended CcfeTjus before Cicero, was refuting, he complained of Ptolemy's 
coming to Borne, as being the remote cause of this part of the charge, and 
took occasion to repeat the following verse of Ennuis- — Utinam n& in vcwore. 
Pelio, &c. "Where the poet, in like manner, mentioned the remote cause 
v of the pafsion which ruined Medea: for it was of the trees that grew upon 
mount Pelion in Theisaly that the ship Argo was built, wherein Jason sailed, 



319 

Sect. VIII. And here I may say what the renowned M. Cras- 
sus lately said, when complaining of king Ptolemy's arrival ; O 

that never in the Pelian wood 1 might even go on with this 

poem ; Never then had a wandering lady given us this trouble, 
a love-sick Medea, &c. For you will find, my lords, when I 
come to speak upon it, I shall prove that tins Medea of the Pa- 
latuim, and the removal of this young gentleman, has been the 
cause of all the evils he has suffered, or rather of all that has 
been alleged against him. Supported then, by your wisdom, 
ray lords, I am not afraid of what I find from the words of tne 
accusers tiiem>elves, to be nothing but fiction and contrivance. 
For they alleged that there will be a senator to give evidence 
that he was beaten by CWms at the election of pontiffs. If such 
a senator appears, I shall ask him in tne first place, why he did 
not immediately bring an action? In the next place, if he chose 
rather to complain than bring an action, whyhe did it rather at 
your imtigat on, tnan of his own accord? Why he chose to 
complain so long after the thing happened, and not directly ? If 
he answers these questions with shrevvdnefs and subtiiity, I snail 
then inquire, front vyhat source this senator flows ? For if he 
springs from himself, I shall perhaps be moved, as usual ; but 
if he flows like a rivulet, from the fountain-head of your accu- 
sation, I shall rejoice that in a charge so powerfully supported, 
there can only one senator be found, who is willing to oblige 
you. ' Neither am I afraid of that other tribe of night-witnefses ; 
for the accusers say they can produce citizens to prove that 
Coelius meddled with their wives, as they were returning from 
supper. They must be persons of great Avisdom, who dare 
swear to such a fact as this; since they must confefs, that they 
did not so much as propose a reference for the redrefc of so 
great injuries. 

Sect. IX. But, my lords, you now understand the whole 
nature of this attack; and when it is made, it will be incumbent 
ittpon you to repulse it. Those who accuse M. Coelius, are not 
the persons that attack him : the darts are thrown at him pub- 
licly, but they are furnished in private. Nor do I say this witk 
a view to bring an odium upon those, to whom it ought to da 
honour: they do their duty: tney defend their friends: they 



(12) Hanc Palatinam Med.eam.'] Cicero here meaiss Clodia, who lived 
upon the Palatine hilt He humorously calls her Medea, because Atrati- 
mis, as we read in Fortunatianus, called Coelius the beautiful Jason. 

(13) Sin autem, ut rivulus, arcefsitus, et ductus ab ipso capife accusationis 
v.estrie.~\ Cicero alludes here to Clodia, whom, by a beautiful metaphor, he 
calls caput accusationis, the spring-head of the accusation. 

(14) Ne cangrefsu quidem et constitutor Before a suit was commenced, 
it was usual for the parties to endeavour to make up the difference, by 
means of some common friend or friends. 

X A 



320 T. M. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

solent : laesi dolent, irati efferuntur, ( ,s ) pugnant lacefsiti ; sed 
ves'ra: sa'pifentiae tamen est, judices, non, si causa justa est viris 
ibrtibus oppugnandi M. Ccelium, ideo vobis quoque vos causam 
putare eise justam, alieno dolori potius, quam vestrae fidei con- 
suiendi. Qua; sit multitude) in foro, quae genera, quae studia, 
quae varietas hominum, videtis ; ex hac copia, quam multos 
efse arbitramini, qui hominibus potentibus, gratiosis, disertis, 
cum a liquid eos velie arbitrentur, ultrp se offerre soleant, ope- 
ram navare, testimonium pbiliceri ? Hoc ex genere si qui se in 
hoc judicium forte projecerint, excluditote eorurn cupiditatem, 
judices, sapientia vestra : ut eodem tempore et hujus'saluti, et 
religioni vestroe, et contra periculosifsimas hominum potentias 
conditipni omnium civium providifse videamini. Equidem vos 
abducam a. testibus ; neque hujus judicii veritatem, quae mutari 
nulio modo potest, in voluntate testium collocari sinam; quaj 
faciliime etiingi, nullo negotio flecti, detdrqueri potest; argu- 
ments agemus ; signis omni luce clarioribus crimina refellemus ; 
res cum re, causa cum causa, ratio cum ratione pugnabit. 

X. Itaque illam partem causae facile patior graviter et ornate 
a M. Gafso peroratam, de seditionibus Neapqlitanis, de Alex- 
andrinorum puisatione Puteolana, de bonis Pallae ; vellem dic- 
tum efset ab eodem ( l6 ) etiam de Dione : de quo ipso tamen 
quid est, quod exspectetis, quod is qui fecit, aut non timet, aut 
etiam' fatetur ? Etenim reus, qui dictus est et adjutor fuifse et 
conscius P. Ascitius, is judicio est liberatus. Quod igitur est hu- 
ju^ijQdi crimen, ut, qui commisit, non neget; qui negavit, ab- 
soiutus fit ; id hie pertimescat, qui non modo a facto, verum 
etiam a conscientiae suspicione abfuit ? et, si Ascitio causa plus 
profuit quam nocuit invidia, huic oberit tuum maledictum, qui 
istius faclinon modo suspicione, sed ue infamia quidem est ad- 
spersusr At" praevaricatione est Ascitius liberatus. Perfacile est 
isti loco respondere, mini pracsertim, a quo ilia causa defensaest. 
Sed Ccelvus optimam causain Aseitii else arbitratur : cujusmodi 
autem sit, a sua putat else sejunctam : neque solum Coelius, sed 
etiitm adolescemc;:-. bumrminsimi et Joctifsimi rectiisimis studiis at- 
queoptiniis artibuspraditi, Titus Caiusque Coponii : qui ex omni- 
bus maxime Dionis mortem doiuerunt ; qui cum doctnme studio 



(15) Pugnant lacefsiti.'] This probably refers to Atratinus, who was glad 
to have ''aha: r . orlunit) of accusing Ccelius, in revenge for his having'im- 
peafc'hee! Atratihu's the father.' 

: (16) Etiam dc Diojic.'] Dio was the chief of the Alexandrian embafs^ 
and was aliaiiinated by Ascitius, for which, however,, he was acquitted," 



3?1 

act as men of spirit generally dp: being injured, they com- 
plain ; being provoked, they are in a pafsion ; and being at- 
tacked, they tight. But though these brave men may have 
good reason for attacking M. Coelius, yet your wisdom, my 
lords, is concerned, not to think that you have therefore any 
jeason to pay greater regard to their resentment than to your 
own honour. You see what numbers crowd the forum, and 
how different their views and dispositions are. Of all this mul- 
tude, how many do you imagine there are, who, when they 
think that men of credit, power, and eloquence, have any thing 
to do, offer themselves, prefs their services, and promise their 
evidence ? Should any of such a character thrust themselves 
into this trial, let your wisdom, my lords, check their forward- 
nefs ; that you may seem at once to have consulted the safety of 
Coelius, your own honour, and the interest of all our citizens, 
against the dangerous influence of power. I will indeed draw 
you off from testimonies, nor will I suffer the immutable justice 
of this cause to depend upon the depositions of witnefses which 
may be fashioned and influenced with the utmost ease. We 
shall deal in arguments, and shall refute their accusation with, 
proofs clearer than the day : fact shall be opposed to fact, 
€ause to cause, and argument to argunient. 

Sect. X. I am glad, therefore, that M. Crafsus defended that 
part of his cause which relates to the seditions at Naples, the 
Seating of the Alexandrian deputies at Puteoli, and the goods 
of Pallas, with so much force and eloquence. I wish he had 
likewise spoken to the affair of Dion. Though in regard to 
'that, what is there that could be to your purpose, which he 
•who committed the fact is either afraid of, or denies ? For 
P. Ascitius, who is accused of having been privy to the design, 
and to have afsisted in it, was acquitted. When a crime, there- 
fore, is of such a nature that he who commits it does not deny 
it, and he who does not deny it is acquitted, should that person 
be afraid of being condemned for it, who not only did not com- 
mit it, but who was not even suspected of having had any 
knowledge of it? And if that prosecution did more service to 
Ascitius, than the hatted of his prosecutors did him harm, shall 
this scandal hurt the man, on whom neither the suspicion nor 
the infamy of such an action ever fell ? But it was owing to col- 
lusion, it will be said, that Ascitius was acquited. This objec- 
tion is very easily answered, especially by me Vho defended 
that cause. But Coelius thinks the cause of Ascitius a very 
good one; neverthelefs, of what kind soever it is, he is of 
opinion that it is very different from his own : nor does .Coelius 
only think so, but the Coponii, Titus and Caius, young men of 
the greatest politenefs and learning, of the most honourable in- 
tentions, and best accomplishments, who* of all others, lament- 



$22 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

atque liumanitatis, turn etiam hospitio Dionis tenebantur ; ha- 
bitabat is apud L. Lucceium, ut audistis : fuerat ei cognitus 
Alexandria^ ; quid aut hie, aut summo splendore praeditus 
frater ejus, de M. Coelio existimet, ex ipsis, si producti erunt, 
audietis. Ergo heec removeantur, ut aliquando, in quibus 
causa nititur, ad ea veniamus. 

XI. AnimadVerti enim, judices, audiri a vobis meum fami- 
liarem L. Herennium perattente ; in quo etsi magna ex parte 
ingenio ejus, et dicendi genere quodam tenebamini, tamen 
nonnunquam verebar ne ilia subtiliter ad criminandum inducta 
oratio ad animos vestros sensirn ac leniter accederet; dixit enim 
muita de luxuria, muita de libidine, multa de vitiis juventutis, 
multa de muribus: et qui in reliqua vita, mitis efset, et in hac 
suavjtate liumanitatis, qua prope jam delectantur homines, ver~ 
sari perjucunde soleret, ('') fuit in hac causa pertristis quidam 
patruus, censor, magister ; objurg&vit M. Coelium,. sicut nemi- 
jnehi unquam parens : multa de incontinentia, intemperantiaque 
difseruit. ^ Quid qusentis, judices ? ignoscebam vobis attente 
audientibus, propterea quod egomet tarn triste illud et tarn as- 
perum genus orationis horrebam. Ac prima pars fuit ilia, quae 
me minus movebat, fuiise meo necefsano Bestias Ccelium fami- 
liarem, ecenaise apud eum, ventitaise domum, studiufse praeturse. 
Non me fesfee movent, qu&3 perspicue tataa sunt; etenini eos una 
ccenalse dicir, qui absunt, aut quibus necefse est idem dicere. 
Neque vero illud me commovet, ( ,b ) quod sibi in Lupercis so- 
dajerm efse Ccelium dixit/ Fera quaedam sodalitas, et plane 
pastoritia atque agrestis germanorum Lupercorum : quorum 
coitio ilia sylvestris ante est instituta, quam humanitas, atque 
leges; siquidem. non modo nomina dererunt- inter se sodales, 
sod etiam commemorant sodalitatern in accusando, ( I9 ) ut ne 
ipihj si id forte nesciat, timere videatur. Sed haeb omittam : 
ad ifia, quae me magis moverunt, respondebo. Deliciarum ob- 
jurgatio fuit louga, et ea lenior : plusque disputationis habuit, 
quam atrocitatis ; quo etiam audita est attentius. Nam P. Clo- 



Fuit iii hac causa pertristis quidam patruus.'] Patruus here signifies 
censor, like a morose guardian uncle. In this sense it is made use 
•>■..,- Horace, Sat. 3d. Book 'Jd. 

, . — she ego prave, 

"' Sou rectc, hoc volui : ne sis patruus mihi. 
'fiSO ®uod sibi in Lupercis sodalem efse C&ii urn dixit. ] The Lupercalia 
v^ a a-aivai instituted in honour of Pan. Valerius Maximus pretends 
i\\ * it was no older than the foundation of Borne; but Livy and Plutarch 
&ie positive that it was brought out of Greece by Evander. Jt was cele- 
■:d on the fifteenth of February, chieily in the villages, with very ridi- 
rulous ceremonies, 

C\9) Uiueqnis, si id forte nesciat, timere videatur.'] It is difficult to 
ascertain the meaning of this pafsage, which is differently understood by 
coinnh-nlutors. Tlit- words in the original in-some editions are, si auis id 
jcrtc npsciat timere videatur : Abramius prefers the following reading to all 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 323 

ed the death of Dion most, being delighted both With his hos- 
pitality, and his learning and politenefs. Dion, as you have 
heard, lived with L. Lucceius, to whom he was known at 
Alexandria. What his sentiments are concerning M. Ccelius, 
or those of his brother, a man of the greatest eminence, you 
may hear from themselves, if they are brought into court. Let 
these things therefore be set aside, that we may at last come to 
those on which the cause principally rests. 

Sect. XI. I observed, my lords, that you heard my friend 
L, Herennius very attentively; and though it was his wit, in a 
great measure, and a certain kind of eloquence that struck 
you ; yet I was sometimes apprehensive lest this insinuating 
subtle method of accusation should gradually slide into, and 
take pofsefsion of your breasts. For he spoke much upon 
luxurv, much upon lust, much upon the vices, and much 
upon the manners of youth; and he, who on every other occa- 
sion is so very gentle, and has so much of that engaging, hi*- 
mane, and agreeable manner that charms all mankind, was as 
rigid in this cause as an old guardian uncle, a censor, or a mas- 
ter ; he reproved M. Ccelius more severely than ever a father did 
a son, and enlarged much upon intemperance and incontinency. 
Do you ask me what I thought of it, my lords ? I could not 
blame you for hearing it so attentively, though so severe and 
rigid a manner of speaking, I must confefs, somewhat shocked 
myself. The first article of accusation, which did not give 
me great concern, was, that Ccelius was intimate with my 
friend Bestia ; that he supped with him ; was freqently at his 
house, and his friend when he stood for the pnetorship. These 
things, being evidently false, give me no concern: for those 
whom he gives out to have supped with them, are either 
absent, or obliged to give the same evidence. Nor does it 
disturb me when he says that Ccelius was his companion at the 
Lupercal games: for the true Luperci are a savage, rustic, 
and truly clownish fraternity, whose meetings in the forests 
were instituted before laws or politenefs took place among 
men: since they not only accuse each other, but mention the 
fraternity in their accusations, as if they were afraid lest any 
one should not discover them to belong to it. But all this I 
shall pais over, and reply to what gave me more concern. 
The censure he pafsed upon the pursuit of pleasure was lono-, 
but gentle ; and had more declamation in it than severity, so 
that it was heard the more attentively. As for my friend, 



(b.thers, vt ne quis id forte nesciai timere videantur; and the sense ofihe 
paisage according to him, is,— They boast of their being members of the 
fraternity whom they accuse, as if they were afraid lest any one should 
not discover them to belonc; to it. 



324 >f. T. CICERONIS OR^TICWES. 

dius amicus meus, cum se gravifsime vehementifsimeque jacta- 
ret, et omnia inflammatus ageret tristifsimis verbis, voce maxi- 
ma : tametsi probabam ejus eloquentiam, tamen non pertimes- 
cebam ; aliquot enim in causis eum videram frustra litigantem. 
Tibi autem, Balbe, respondebo, pnmum precario, si licet, si 
fas est, defendi a me eum, qui nullum conviviutn renuerit, qui 
unguenta sumpserit, ( i0 ) qui Baias viderit. 

XII. Equidem multos et vidi in hac civitate, et audavi, non 
modo qui primoribus labris gustafsent genus hoc vitae, et extre- 
mis, ut dicitur, digitis attigiisent ; sed qui totam adolescentiam 
^voluptatibus dedidifsent, emersifse aliquando, et se ad frugem 
feonam, ut dicitur, recepifse, gravesgue homines atque illustres 
fuifse. Datur enim concefsu omnium huic aliquis ludus aetati, 
et ipsa natura profundit adolescentiae eupiditates : quae si ita 
eruinpunt, ut nullius vitam labefactent, nullius domum evertant, 
faciles et tolerabiles haberi solent. Sed tu mihi videbare ex 
communi infamia juventutis, aliquam invidiam Coelio velle con- 
flare ; itaque omne illud silentium, quod est orationi tributum 
tuae, fuit ob earn causam, quod uno reo proposito, de multorum 
vitiis cogitabamns. Facile est accusare luxuriem ; dies jam me 
deficiet, si, quae dici in earn sententiam pofsunt, coner expro- 
mere ; de corruptelis, de adulteriis, de protervitate, de sumpti- 
bus, immensa oratio est ut tibi reum neminem, sed vitia piQ- 
ponaJs ; res tamen ipsa et copiose et graviter accusari potest. Sed 
vestrae sapientiae est, judices, non abduci ab reo : nee quos acu- 
leos habeat severitas gravitasque vestra, cum eos accusator erex- 
erit in rem, in vitia, in mores, in tempora, emittere in homi- 
nem, et in reum : cum is non suo crimine, sed multorum vitio 
sit in quoddam odium injustum vocatus. Itaque severitati tuae, 
ut oportet, ita respondere non audeo : erat enim meum depre- 
cari vacationem adolescentiae, veniamque petere : non, inquam, 
audeo: perfugiis non utor aetatis: concefsa omnibus jura dimit- 
to : tantum peto, ut, si qua est mvidia communis hoc tempore 
i€ris alieni, petulantia?., libidinum juventutis, quam video else 
iflRgnam, ne huic aliena peccata, ne aetatis ac temporum vitia 
noceant. Atque ego idem, qui haec postulo, quin criminibus_, 
quaj in hunc proprie conieruntur, diligentiisime respondean^ 
non recuso. 



(20) Qui Baias videriL~] Baia was in Campania, between Puteoli and 
Miseniim. It was frequented at certain seasons of the year, by people of 
fashion from all parts of Italy, being. famous for springs of warm water, 
where they used to bathe. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 325 

P. Clodius, he exerted himself indeed with great vehemence, 
seemed all oil fire, spoke loud, and with great acrimony ; but 
I was under no great apprehensions from what he said, though 
I was pleased with his eloquence ; for I had seen him in other 
causes wrangling to no purpose. But, with your leave, Balbus, 
I will answer you first, if I maybe allowed, if I may take upon 
me to defend a man who never refused a banquet of any kind, 
who deals in perfumes, and who has been at Baiae. 

Sect. XII. I have seen and 1 heard' of many in this city, who r 
having not only just tasted this way of life, and, as we say, 
touched it with their finger-ends ; but having prostituted the- 
whole of their youth to pleasure, have at last extricated them- 
selves, become, according to the common saying, good hus- 
bands, and proved men of worth and eminence. Some diver- 
sions are allowed this age by all; and nature herself bestows 
pafsions on youth with a lavish hand ; which, in their sallies, if 
they endanger no one's life, demolish no one's house, are 
looked upon as moderate and tolerable. But from the common 
vices of youth,, you seemed to me to aim at bringing an odium 
upon Ccelius.. Accordingly, all the profound silence with which 
your speech was heard., was owing to this, that our thoughts 
were led, from a single instance, to the general corruption of 
the times. But nothing is more easy than to bring a charge 
against luxury ; and night would overtake me, should I attempt 
to advance whatever may be said upon that subject: corruption 
of manners, adulteries, wantonnefs, and extravagance, furnish 
out an ample field for declamation. To attack vice in general, 
without accusing any person, would be a copious and weighty 
subject. But your wisdom, my lords, is concerned, not to lose 
sight of the accused, nor when the prosecutor has given an 
edge to your severity and gravity against things, against vices, 
against immoralities, against the times, to point it against a man, 
against one who is accused before you, and who is brought un- 
der an unjust odium, not for any personal crime, but for the 
vices of the multitude. I dare not, therefore, return such an 
answer to your severity as it deserves ; for I meant to inter- 
cede for youth, and to plead for some indulgence to their 
follies : I say, I dare not : I renounce the rights that are al- 
lowed to all, I shall not avail myself of the privileges of youth ; 
all I desire is, that, if the contracting of debts, if arrogance,, if 
youthful debaucheries lie at present under a general odium* as 
I see they do, the vices of others, nor the depravity of the times,, 
may be no prejudice to Coelius. At the same time that I ask 
this, I am far from refusing to return an exact answer to the 
personal accusations that are brought against him. 



S£<5 to. T. CICERONIS QRATtONES, 

XIII. "Sunt autem duo crimina,aun et veneni ; in quibus una. 
atque eaciem persona versatur. Aurum sumptum a, Clodia. 
venenum 1 quantum, quod Clodise daretur, dicitur ; omnia 
sunt alia, non crimina, sed maledieta, jurgii petulantis magis, 
quam publican quaestioni., ; adulter, impudicus, sequester, eon- 
vieium est, non aceusatio ; nullum est enim f'undamentum ho- 
rmncriminum, nulla sedes j voces sunt contumeliosae, temere ab 
irato accusatore, nullo auctore, emifsae. Horum duorum cri- 
minum video t'ontem, video auctorem, video certrum nomen et 
caput ; auro opus fuit : sumpsit a Clodi£, sumpsit sine teste, ha- 
buit quamdiu voluit ; maximum video signum cujusdam egre- 
gise familiaritatis ; necare eandem voluit, quaesivit venenum, 
solicitavit quos potuit, paravit, locum consituit, attulit ; mag- 
num rursus odium video cum crudelifsimo discidio extitifse. 
Kes est omnis in hac causa, nobis, indices, cum Clodia, muliere 
non solum nobiji, sed etiam nota, de qua ego nihil dicam, nisi 
depellendi cri minis causa. Sed intelligis pro tua praestanti 
prudentia, Cn. Domiti, cum hac sola rem efse nobis: quae si 
se aurum Coelio commodafse non dicit, si venenum ab hoc sibi 
paratum efse non arguifc ; petulanter facimns, (") si matrem- 
tamiiias secus, quam matronarum sanctitas postulat, nominamas; 
sin ista. muliere remot'a, nee crimen uilum, nee opes ad oppug- 
nandum Coelium illis relinquentur, quid est aliud quod nos pa- 
troni facere debeamus nisi ut eos, qui insectantur, repellamus .? 
quod quidem facerem vchementius, nisi intercederent mihi ini- 
micitise ( i2 ) cum istius mulieris viro; fratrem volui dicere : 
semper hie erro. Nunc agam modice, ne longius progrediar, 
quam me mea fides, et causa ipsa coget ; neque enim rnuliebres 
unquam inimicitias mihi gerendas putavi, praesertim cum ea, 
quam omnes semper amicam omnium potius quam cujusquam 
inimicam putaverunt. 

XIV. Sed tamen ex ipsa qu&ram prius, utrum me secum se- 
vere, et graviter, et prisce agere malit ; an remilse, ac lemter, 
et urbane ; si illo austero more ac modo : aliquis mihi ab inferis 
excitandus est, ex barbatis illis,. non, hac barbula. qua ista delec- 
tatur, sed ilia horrid a quam in statuis antiquis et imaginibus vi- 
demus: qui objurget. mulierem, et pro me, loquatur, ne ista mihi 
forte succenseat. Exsistat igitur ex hac ipsa familia aliquis, ac 
potifsimum ( i3 ) Caucus ille ; minimum enim dolorem eapiet, qui 



(2i) Si inatrem-familias secus , quam matronarum stmctitus pcstulat, nomi- 
narnus.~] Some critics distinguish between mattr-famUias and matrojia; but 
that they were used promiscuousjy among the Romans, to signify a.lady 
of a chaste reputation, appears from this,, and qther places oi Cicero 1 * 
writings. 

(22)" Cum istius mulieris viro.'] P. Clodius is here meant, an abandoned 
debauchee, who according to Plutarch, was guilty of incest with each of 
his three sisters. 



327 

Sect. XIII. He is charged with two ; one concerning gold, 
another concerning poison ; and botli relate to the same person. 
It is said that gold was borrowed of Clodia, and that poison was 
prepared to give her. Whatever else is advanced, is only scan- 
dal, not accusation, and more proper for a scolding bout than a 
public trial. To call one an adulterer, a debauchee, a pimp, 
is to scandalize, not to accuse him ; there is no ground for such 
accusations: they are abusive terms, rashly thrown out by an 
ungry prosecutor, without any foundation. As to these two 
charges, I see the source, I see the author, I see the true cause 
and principle of them. Ccelius wanted gold ; he borrowed of 
(Clodia; he borrowed it without witneffes, and kept it as long as 
he pleased ; these are clear proofs of a great intimacy. He had 
a mind to kill Clodia ; he looked out for poison ; he solicited 
every person he could ; he prepared it ; he appointed the 
place ; he brought it. Here again I can perceive great hatred, 
with a mod violent quarrel. In this cause, my lords, we have 
only to do with Clodia ; a woman net only noble, but also well 
known; concerning whom I shall say nothing but what is ne- 
cetTary for refuting the accusation. But, Co. Domitius, 'tis 
easy for one of your great discernment, to see that our busineis 
is with her alone : if she says that she lent no gold to Ccelius ; 
if she does not accuse him of having prepared poison for her, 
we are impertinent in mentioning the mother of a family in a 
manner different from w r hat the honour of matrons requires. 
But if, setting Clodia aside, our adversaries will have neither an 
accusation to bring against Ccelius, nor any means left of attack- 
ing him, what else is incumbent upon us who are his-advocates ? 
but to repulse those who attaekus ? And this indeed I would 
do with vigour, were it not for the animosity that subsists 
between me and that lady's husband; I meant to say her 
brother ; I always fall into that mistake. Now I will act gently, 
lest I exceed the bounds which my duty, and the cause I am 
defending, prescribe to me ; for I have always thought it in- 
cumbent upon me, to avoid being on bad terms with the ladies, 
especially with Clodia, who has always had the character of being 
rather good-natured to every body, than an enemy to any. 

Sect. XIV. But first I will ask herself, whether she would 
have me deal with her in a severe, solemn, old-fashioned man- 
ner, or in a soft, gentle, and courteous one. If in the austere 
manner, I must summon up from the shades some of those gen- 
tlemen with long beards, and not with such a young one as she 
is fond of, but with a rough one, such as we see in old statues 
and images, to reprove the lady, and speak in my stead, lest 
she should happen to be angry with me. Let one of her own 
family then rise up, and blind .Appius rather than any other. ; 



328 to. T. ciceroni's orationes. 

istairi rion videbit ; qui pvofecto si extiterit, sic aget, et sic lo~ 
quetur : Mulier, quid tibi cum Coelio ? quid cum homine adole- 
scentulo ? quid cum alieno ? cur aut tarn familiaris huic fuisti, 
ut aurum commodares ; aut tam inimica, ut venerium timeres ? 
Don patrem tuum videras ? non patruum, non avum, proavum, 
atavum audieras consuies fuiise ? non denique modo te Quinti 
Metelli matrimonium tenuiise sciebas, clarifsimi et fortifsimi 
viri, patriseque amantifsimi, qui simul ac pedem limine extule- 
rat, omnes prope cives virtute, gloria, dignitate superabat ? cui 
cum ex amplifsimo genere in familiam clarifsimam nupsifses, 
cur tibi Ccelius tam conjunctus fuit ? cognatus ? affinis ? viri 
tui familiaris? nihil horum ; quid igitur fuit, nisi qua?dam teme- 
ritas ac libido ? nonne tCj si nostrse imagines viriles non com- 
movebant, ne progenies quidem mea, (* 4 ) Q. ilia Clodia, smu- 
lam domesticse laudis in gloria muliebri efse admonebat ? non 
virgo ilia vestalis Clodia, qUae patrem complexa triumphantem 
ab inimico tribuno plebis de curru detrabi pafsa non est ? cur te 
fraterna vitia potius, quam bona paterna, et avita, et usque a 
nobis cum in viris, turn etiam in foeminis rep etita mover unt ? 
( 25 ) Ideo-ne ego pacem Pyrrhi diremij ut tu amorum turpifsi- 
mopum quotidie fcedera ferires? ( 26 ) ideo aquam adduxi, ut ea 
tu inceste uterere ? ideo viam munivi, ut earn tu alienis viris 
comitata celebrares ? 

XV. Sed quid ego, judices, ita gravem personam induxi, tit 
et verear, ne se idem Appius repente convertat, et Ccelium, iri- 
cipiat accusare ilia sua gravitate censoria ? Sed videro hoc pos- 
terius, atque ita judices, ut vel severrifsimis disceptatoribus 



(23) Ccecus-il'e.~\ Nothing could set Clodia's infamy in a clearer or 
stronger point of view, or more powerfully affect the minds of the audience, 
than the artful manner in which Cicero here contrasts her character with 
that of her illustrious ancestors, Her family was one of the most con- 
siderable in Rome, and the person introduced to expostulate with her was 
old Appius Claudius, a famous orator and civilian, who lost his sight ift 
the latter part of his life. 

(24) Quinta ilia Clodia.'] When Scipio Nasica went to meet the goddef? 
Cybele, who was brought to Rome towards the end of the second Punic 
war, he was attended by such of the ladies of Rome, as were in the highest 
veneration for their virtue. Some of the vestals likewise accompanied 
him, and particularly this Quinta Clodia; of whom it is related, that whew 
the vefsel, on which the goddefs was imported, unfortunately struck upon 
a bank of sand near the mouth of the Tyber, and neither the mariners, 
nor several yoke of oxen* were able to move it, she, pulling it only by her 
girdle tied to it, easily set it afloat. Clodia is said to have been suspected 
of incontinence; and, it is added, that this miracle was wrought in answer 
of her prayer to the goddefs, to give a testimony of her innocence. 

(25) ideo-ne ego pacem Pyrrhi diremi.~] When Cyneas was sent by Pyrrhus 
to the Roman senate with proposals of peace, he found several or" the con- 
script fathers disposed to accept them. Appius, who had for some time 
retired from all public businefs, and confined himself wholly to his family, 
on account of his great age and the lofs of his sight, upon heating the re- 
port of what pafsed in the senate, caused himself to be carried in the arm 5 



cicero's orations. 320 

for, as he cannot see her, his grief will be the lefs/ 4 Were he to 
appear, he would behave thus, and addrefs her in the following 
manner : Woman ! what is thy businefs with Ccelius ? what 
with a boy ? what with a stranger ? Why was you either lo 
intimate with him as to lend him money, or so much his enemy 
as to be afraid of being poisoned by him ? Hast thou not seen thy 
father in the conihlship ? not heard that thy uncle, thy grand- 
father, thy great-grandfather, and his father were consuls ? Art 
thou ignorant that Q,. Metelius was thy husband, a man of the 
greatest eminence and bravery, and a distinguished patriot, 
who no sooner appeared in a public character, than he surpassed 
almost all his countrymen in glory, merit, and dignity f After 
being married into so illustrious a family, thyself too nobly de- 
scended, why was Coelius so intimate with thee ? Was he thy 
relation ? thy kinsman ? thy husband's intimate? He was none 
of all these. What then could be the reason, but indiscretion 
and lust ? If the images of the men of our family did not move 
thee, ought not my daughter Q.. Clodia to have excited in thy 
breast an emulation of her domestic virtues, the chief glory of 
a woman? Ought not that Clodia, the vestal virgin, who, 
embracing her father in his triumphal car, would not suffer a 
tribune of the people, who was his enemy, to tear him from it ? 
Why dost thou imitate the vices of a brother, rather than the 
virtues of a father, a grandfather, of a whole family from me 
downward, both males and females? Did I hinder my country 
from entering into a peace with Pyrrhus,. that you might daily 
enter into engagements of infamous amours? Did I supply the 
city with water, that you might use it for the purposes of 
imparity ? Did I make a high-way to be frequented by you and 
your gallants? ; 

Sect. XV. But what's this I am doing, my lords ? I have in- 
troduced so venerable a character, that I am afraid lest the same 
Appius should turn against Ccelius of a sudden, and accuse him 
with his censorial gravity. But I shall speak to that. by and by J 
and in such a manner, my lords, that I flatter myself I shall yin- 

of his domestics to the senate-house, where, by an animated speech, he so- 
awakened the Roman spirit in the senators, that without farther debate 
they unanimously passed a decree, instantly to dismiss the ambassador 
with this answer: That the Romans would enter into no treaty with king 
Pyrrhus, so Long as he con tin ed in Italy ; but with all tneir strength would 
pursue the war against him, though' he should vanquish a thousand Lavinus' s . 
(26.) Ideo aquum adduxi, ideo viam munivi? The first invention of the 
Roman aqueducts is attributed to Appius, who brought water into Rome, 
in the year of the city 441, by a channel of eleven miles in length, lie 
likewise built the famous Via Appia, which took its name from him* a 
considerable part of this extraordinary work still remains, and, though it 
has lasted above two thousand years, is, in most places, for several Ulilea 
together, as entire as when it was first made. . 

y 



&30 M* T. CICERONIS QRATIONES; 

M. Coelii vi&rn me probaturum efse confidam. Tu vezo, rrralier* 
(jam enim ipse tecum nulla persona introdncta loquor) ; li ea 
quae facis, quae dicis, quae insimulas, quae moUris, quae arguis, 
probare cogitas ; rationem tantae familiaritatis, tantae consue- 
tudinis, tantae conjunction-is reddas atque exponas necefse est. 
Accusatores quidem libidiues, amoves, adulteria. Baias, actas, 
eonvivia, comifsationes, cantus, fymphonias, navagia jactant:. 
iidemque significant,. nihil se, te invito., dieere ; quae tu, quoniam 
mente neseio qua effranata atque praecipiti in forum deferri 
jiidiciumque voluisti, aut diluas oportet, et falsa efse doceas, 
4ut nihil neque crimini tuo, neque testimonio credendum efse 
fateare. Sin autem nrbanius me agere mavis, sie again tecum y 
removebo ilium senem durum, ac pene agrestem: ex hisque 
tuis sumarn aliquem, ac potissimum minimum fratrem tuum, 
qui est in isto genere urbanifsimus, qui te amar plurimum : qui 
propter neseio quam, credo, tdmiditatero, etnocturnos quosdam 
inanes metus, tecum semper pusio eummajore sorore cubitavit ; 
emu putata tecum loqui : Quid tumultu-aris, soror ? quid insanis ? 
quid clamore exorsa, verbis parvam rem magnam facis ? vicinum, 
adolescentulum adspexisti : candor hujus teet proceritas, vultus 
oculique perpulerunt t saepius videre voluisti : nonnunquam in 
iisdern hortis visa nobilis mulier: ilium filium familias patre 
parco ac tenaci, habere tuis copiis devinctum non potes : cal- 
citrat, respuit, non putat tua dona efse tanti ; confer te alio ; 
babes hortas at Tiberim : ac diiigenter eo loco praeparasti, quo 
omnis juventus. natandi causa venit; hinc licet conditiones quo- 
tidie- legas : cur huic 7 qui te spernit, molesta es ? 

XY& Redeo nunc ad te, Cccli, vicifsim, ac mihi auctoritatem 
patriam seventatemque suscipio : sed dubito, quern patre ra 
potifsimum sumaon. ( 27 ) Caecilianum-ne aliquem, vehementem 
atque durum ? Nunc enfoidemum mihi animus ardet, nuncmcuyn 
cor cumnhtor ird : aut ilium, & in/el i.v ! 6 scclcste ! Ferrei sunt 
isti patres. Ego-ne quid dicam ? ego^ne quid velim ? qu<e tu 
mnia tuis fvdisfactis facis, ut nequidquawi iclim. Vix ferenda 
diceret talis pater, Cur te in istam vtcim'tatem vierctriciam C071- 
futistlf tur ittecebvis cognitis non refugistif cur alicnam idlam 
mulicrcni mtsti? elide ac dijsice, per vie liccbit : si egebis, tibi 
dolcbit : mihi sat est, qui aiatis quod reliquum est obdectem mca\ 
Huie tristi ac decrepito seni respondent Ceeiius, se nulla cu- 



( ( J7) CiCcilianum-ne aliquem, vehementem atque durum?] This Cseciliiis 
was a comic poet, most of whose characters were of the grave stud 
morose kind. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 331 

n 
dicate the character of M. Crclius, to the satisfaction even of the 
severe X judges. As for you, Clodio, (for now I speak to you 
myself, without introducing a feigned character) ; if you think 
of proving your actings, your words, your accusations, your 
fictions, your affirmations, there is a necefsity for your declaring 
the cause of this great familiarity, this great friendship, this 
great intimacy. Our accusers talk loudly of debaucheries, 
amours, adulteries, the baths, banquets, collations, songs, con- 
certs, and pleasure-boats; while at the same time they give out, 
that they say nothing without your directions. All this, as 
your violent and wayward humour has brought you into the 
forum and before the court, you must either disown and show 
to be false, or allow that no credit is due either to your accusa- 
tion or your testimony. But if you would have me deal more 
courteously with you, I will do it thus: I will remove that rigid 
and almost savage old man, and make choice of one of these 
kinsmen of yours ; your youngest brother rather than any other, 
who is perfectly polite in his way, who is very fond of you, who, 
from an unaccountable kind of timidity, and being subject, I 
imagine, to fears in the night-time, has always lain with you, 
like a little master, as he is, with his eldest sister. Suppose him 
then to addrefs you thus : Why do you make all this noise and 
bustle, sister ? why are you in this fury ? why do you swell such a 
trifle into a matter of importance by your clamour? You have 
cast your eyes on a young neighbour ; his complexion, his figure, 
his air, his eyes have charmed you ; you have been fond of 
seeing him often ; you have been seen sometimes in the same 
gardens with him, a woman of your distinction ; with all your 
riches you cannot engage him, though still under the tuition of 
a griping stingy father : he spurns, he disdains, he slights your 
presents. Betake yourself to some other place : you have 
gardens nigh the Tiber, and have been at great pains to fit up 
an apartment near the place where all our youth go to bathe ; 
from thence you have an opportunity every day of gratifying 
yourself: why are you troublesome to one who despises you? 

Sect. XVI. I come now to you, Coelius, in your turn, and 
afsume the authority of a father ; but I know not what father I 
shall personate : shall it be one of Caecilius's pafsionate, rigid 
fathers ? — Now my soul is all on fire, and my breast swells with 
passion. — Or, shall I assume the character of that other? O 
wretch I profligate I These fathers have hearts of steel. — What 
shall I say I What shall I propose f Your infamous deeds defeat 
all my purposes. The reproofs of such a father would be almost 
intolerable . Why did you go into the neighbourhood of a prostitute ? 
Why, knowing her seducing charms, did you not retire? Why be 
familiar with another's wife ? Squander and difsipate your fortune ; 

Y 2 



332 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

triditate inductum de via decefsifse. Quid signi? nulli snmptus, 
nulla jactura, nulla versura. At fuit fama. Quotusquisque 
istam eflisgere potest in tarn maledica civitate? vicinum ejus 
mulieris mararis male audiise, cujus frater germanus sermones 
iniquorum effugere non potuit? Leni verb et dementi patri, cu- 
iusmodi ille est: Fores effregit? restituentur : discidit vestetft? 
'resarcietur. Ccelii causa est expedit.iisima. Quid enim efset, 
•in quo se non facile defenderet? Nihil jam in istam mulierem 
dico: ( iS ) sed si efset aliqua diisimilis istius, quae se omnibus 
pervulgaret, quse haberet palam decretum semper aliquem, cu- 
ius in hortos, domum, Baias, jure suo libidines omnium comme- 
arent ; quae etiam aleret adolescentes, et parsimoniam patrum 
- suis sumptibus sustentaret : si vidua, libere, proterva petulanter, 
dives effuse, libidinosa meretricio more veveret; adulterum ego 
putarem, si quis hanc paullo lruerius salutafset ? : 

XVII. Dicet aliquis, Hsec igitur est tua disciplina ? sic tu 
instituis adolescentes ? ob banc causam tibi hunc puerum parens 
commendavit et tradidit, ut in amore et voluptatibus adole- 
ecentiam suam collocaret ; et hanc tu vitam atque hsec studia 
defenderes? Ego, si quis, judices, hoc robore animi, atque hac 
indole virtutis ac ccntinentias fuit, ut respueret omnes volup- 
tates, omnemque vita; suee cursum in labore corporis, atque in 
animi contentione conficeret ; quern non quies, non remiisio, 
non aequalium studia, non ludi, non convivia delectarent ; nihil 
in vita expetendum putaret, nisi quod efset cum laude et cum 
dignitate conjuncture ; hunc mea sententia divinis quibusdam 
bonus instructum atque ornatum puto. Ex hoc genere illos 
fuifse arbitror (* 9 ) Camillos, Fabricios, Curios, omnesque eos 
qui haec ex minimis tanta fecerunt. Verum haec genera virtutum 
non solum in moribus nostris, sed vixjamin libris reperiuntur, 



(28) Sed si esset aliqua dissimilis istius] Cicero, in this passage, while 
he affects to introduce another character, paints that of ClodTa in the 
strongest (colours. 

(•29) Camillos, Fabricios, Curios'] Camiflus was a captain of great valour 
and capacity. He was maliciously accused of having taken to his own use 
some part of the spoil of the city Veii, and, to avoid the disgrace of a con- 
demnation, banished himself. Not long after, when Rome was burnt by 
the Gauls, and the capital invested, this generous Roman, more afflicted 
at the calamities of his country than at his own banishment, came to her 
afsistance while she was treating about a peace, broke off the treaty, and 
so totally vanquished and destroyed the enemy, that not a man was left 
to carry home the news of their disaster.— Fabricius was one of the three 
ambafsadors sent by the Romans to treat with Pvrrhus, about a release of 
prisoners ; he was a man of distinguished virtue, "a brave and able warrior, 
and extremely poor. — Curius was remarkable for living in a voluntary 
poverty : He triumphed over the Sammies, and in the distribution of their 
lands among those Romans who had none of their own, allotted to each 
man no more than seven acres, and' accepted no more himself, though a 
• much larger portion was offered him. He said, that to preserve the Roman 
frugality, it -were to be wished that uoman had more land than was uc- 
cefsary for his subsistence. 



33S 

you may for me; if you arc reduced to watit, Vw yourself must 
suffer; as for me, I have enough to render the short remainder of 
my life comfortable. To this severe and decrepid old man 
Ccelius might answer, that he had not deviated from the path of 
his duty through any ^irregular pafsion. But how does this 
appear ? Why I was not extravagant in my expenses, I sustained 
no lofses, contracted no debts. But it was reported that you 
Jiad. Who can guard against reports in a city so much addicted 
to scandal? Are you surprised that a neighbour of this lady had 
his reputation attacked, when her own brother could not escape 
the lash of malicious tongues ? But before a mild and indulgent 
father, who should talk in the following manner : Has he broke 
open doors ? let them be repaired : has he torn a garment ? let it 
be mended: the cause of Ccelius may very easily be defended. 
For what article is there, upon which he might not easily vindi- 
cate himself? I say nothing now against that lady ; but should 
there be one of a different character from hers, who. should 
prostitute herself to all ; who should always have some one or 
other to bestow her favours upon, and that publicly; whose 
houses, gardens, baths, should be thrown open, for the purposes 
of promiscuous lewdnefs ; nay, who should maintain young men, 
and employ her money in making amends for the scanty allow- 
ances of griping fathers : if such a lady should live licentiously 
in her widowhood, show the lewdnefs of her disposition by the 
wantonnefs of her behaviour, use her riches for the purposes of 
extravagance, and if her lust should, lead her to prostitution, 
can that man be thought an adulterer, v/ho shall be pretty free 
in his addrefses to her ? 

Sect. XVII. But some person will be ready to say, What! 
are these then your instructions? Is it thus you educate youth? 
Was it for this that Ccelius was recommended to you when a 
boy, and delivered up to your care by his father, that he 
might spend his younger years in amours and pleasures ? Are 
you become an advocate for such pursuits, and for such a 
course of life ? If there is a person, my lords, of such firmnefs 
of mind, of such a bias to virtue and temperance, as to reject 
all pleasures, and make his whole life one coutinued scene of 
bodily toils and mental efforts ; one from whom neither repose, 
nor amusement, nor the pursuits of his equals, nor diversions, 
nor banquetings, have any charms; who thinks nothing de- 
sirable in life but what is glorious and honourable; he is, in 
my opinion, furnished and adorned with qualities more than 
human. Such, I apprehend, were the Camilli, the Fajbricii, the 
Curii, and all those who have raised this empire to such a height 
of grandeur from so small a beginning. But such .exalted 
virtues are not to be found in the manners of the present times, 



331 M. T. CtCERONIS ORATIONES, 

chartae quoque, quae illam pristinam severitatem, continebant 
obfoleverunt : neque solum apud nos, qui hanc sectam rationem- 
que vitae, e remagis quam verbis secuti sumus; sed etiam apud 
Graecos, doctiisimos homines ; quibus, cum facere non pofsent, 
loqui tamen et fcribere honesteetmagnifice licebat. Alia quae- 
dam, mutatis Graeciae temponbus, praecepta exstiterunt. Ita- 
que (J°) alii voluptatis causa omnia sapientes facere dixerunt; 
neque ab hac orationionis turpitudine eruditi homines refuge- 
runt; alii cum voluptate dignatem conjungendam putaverunt, 
ut res maxime inter se repugnantes dicendi facultate conjun- 
gerund Illud unum ad laudem cum labore directum iter qui 
probaverunt, probe jam soli in scholis sunt relicti ; multa enim 
nobis blandimenta natura ipsa genuit, quibus sopita virtus con- 
niveret: et interdum multas vias adolescentiae lubricas ostendit, 
quibus ilia insistere, autingredi sine casu aliquo aut prolapsione 
vix pofset : et mutlarum rerutn jucundifsimarum vanetatem de- 
dit, qua non modo haec aetas, sed etiam jam corroborata capere- 
tur. Quamobrem si, quern forte in veneritis^ qui aspernetur ocu- 
lis pulchritudinem rerum, non odoreullo, non tacta, non sapore 
capiatur, excludat auribus omnem suavitatem ; huic homini ego 
fortafse et plauci deos propitios, plerique autem iratos putabunt. 
XVIII. Ergo haec deserta via, etinculta, atque interclusa jam 
frondibus et virgultis relinquatur : detur aliquid aetati: sitadole- 
scentialiberior : non omnia voluptatibus denegentur : non semper 
superet vera ilia et directa ratio : vincat aliquando cupiditas vo- 
luptasque rationem ; dummodo ilia in hoc genere praoscriptio, 
moderatioque teneatur : parcat juventus pudicitiae suae, ne spo- 
lietalienam : ne eriundat patrimonium, ne foenore trucidetur, ne 
incurrat in alterius domum atque famam: neprobrumcastis, la- 
bem integris, infamiam bcnis, inferat : ne quern vi terreat : ne 
intersit iosidiis: scelere careat: ( JI .) postremo, cum paruerit 
voluptibus, dederit aliquid temporis ad ludum aetatis, atque ad 

(30) Alii voluptatis causa omnia sapientes facere dixerunt. [The EpiciT 
reans are here meant, to whose doctrines Cicero was a declared enemy* 
looking upon it as pernicious to society, and destructive of morality'. 

(31) Postremo cum paruerit voluptatibus ] As Cicero may appear to 
some to be an advocate for libertinism in this oration, and to plead for too 
much indulgence to the vices and follies of youth, it ought to be consi- 
dered that his orations are not always the proper vouchers of his opinions, 
being mostly of the judicial kind, or the pleadings of, an advocate, whose 
businefs it was to make the best of his cause, and to deliver, not so much 
what was true, as what was useful to his client ; the patronage of truth be- 
longing in such cases to the judge, and not to the pleader. It would be 
Absurd therefore to require a scrupulous veracity, or strict declaration of 
Ms scrtiments iu them ; the thing does not admit of it, and he himself for- 
bids us to expect it. : In his. oration for Cluentius, he freely declares the 
true nature of all his judicial pleadings. That man, says he, ismuchviis- 
iakcn, who thinks^ that in these judicial pleadings, he has an authentic speci- 
vten of our opinions.; they are the speeches of the causes and the times, not 
of the men or of the advocates; ij the causes QQuld sveak for -the?nsekcs } 7iQ 



335 

Bay scarce indeed in their writings. The very books that con- 
tained this ancient severity, are become antiquated, not only 
among us who have fo^towed this manner of lite more by our 
actions than by our words, but likewise among the Greeks, that 
very learned nation ; who, when they could not practise such 
rigid virtue, were still at liberty to praise it highly both in speak- 
ing and writing. Since this change in Greece, a different set of 
philosophers has arisen. Some of them maintain, that the wise 
do every thing for the sake of pleasure; and even their learned 
men talk in this shameful manner. Others have thought that 
honour is to be joined with pleasure, that by their eloquence 
they might unite things so very opposite in their natures. Those 
who affirm that labour is the only path that leads to glory, 
are almost left alone within their schools. For nature herself 
has furnished us with many allurements which overpower vir- 
tue, and lull her asleep ; she points out from time to time many 
slippery paths to youth, in which they can neither stand nor 
walk, but they are in danger of falling, or making some false 
Step ; and such is the variety of delightful objects wherewith 
she presents us, that not only the early part, but the most ro- 
bust and confirmed period of life, is liable to be seduced by it. 
If you happen then to find one whose eye despises beauty, to 
whom the richest odours can give no delight, who is indifferent 
to the most exquisite pleasures his sense of feeling renders hiia 
capable of, whose palate refuses to be gratified, and whose ears 
are deaf to harmony ; I, perhaps, and a few others, may think 
that the gods have been favourable to such a. person, but the 
generality will think they have been cruel to him. 

Sect. XVIII. Let us quit then tht$. unfrequented and rugged 
path, which is now covered with "briars and bushes; let some 
allowances be made to youth ; let more liberty be granted it; 
let pleasure be sometimes indulged ; let not pure and unbiassed 
reason always prevail; let passion and pleasure sometimes ob- 
tain the victory, provided they be kept within the bounds of 
moderation ; let the young man be tender of his own chastity, 
and not violate that of another; let hhw not squander his for- 
tune, nor ruin himself by mortgages, nor attack the house nor 
the reputation of another; let him bring no stain upon the 
chaste, no reproach upon the uncorrupted, no dishonour upon 
the worthy ; Jet him terrify none by open force, nor hurt them 
by secret contrivances; let him be free from crimes: and after, 
having indulged in pleasure, and spent some part of his time 
in the diversions and trifling pursuits of youth, let him at lasjt 



■body would employ an orator ; but we are employed to speak, not what -we 
would undertake to affirm itfori our authority, but what is suggested by phe 
cause and the thing itself. 

y 4 



336 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ad inanes hasce adolescentiae cupiditates : revocet se aliquandg 
ad curam rei domestical, rei for en sis, republican :' ut ea, quae ra- 
tione antea non perspexerat, satietate abjecifse, experiendo 
contempsifse videatur. Ac multi et nostra, et patrum, majo- 
rumque memoria, judices, sumrai homines, et clarifsimi, cives 
fuerunt, . quorum cum adolescentiae cupiditates deferbuifsent, 
eximiae virtutes, firmata jam astate, exstiterunt : ex quibus ne- 
minem mihi necefse est nominare ; vosmet vobiscum recorda- 
mini ; nolo enim cujusquam fortis atque illustris viri ne mini- 
mum quidem erratum cum maxima laude conjungere ; quod si 
facere Vellem, multi a me summi atque ornatifsimi viri praedi- 
carentur, quorum- parlim nimia libertas in adolescentia, partim 
profusa, luxuries, magnitudo eeris alien i, sumptus, libidines no- 
minarentur : quae multis postea virtutibus obtecta, adolescentia?, 
qui veilet, excusatione'defenderet. 

XIX. At verb in M. Cceiio (dicam enim jam conndentius de 
studiis ejus/honestis,. quoniam audeo quiedam fretus vestra sa- 
pientia libere confiteri) nulla luxuries reperietur, nulli sumptus, 
nullum aes aliehum, nulla conviviorum ac lustrorum libido ; 
quod quidem vitium ventris et gutturis non modo non minuit 
aetas hominibus., sed etiam auget. Amores autem, et ha? delicise 
quae vocantur, quae firmiore ammo praeditts diutius niolestae non 
solent esse (mature enim et cejeriter deflorescunt) nunquam 
founc occupatum impeditumque tenuerunt. Audistis, cum pro 
se diceret : audlstis antea, cum accusaret : defendendi haec cau- 
sa, non gloriandi loquor ; genus orationis, facukatem, copiam 
sententiarum atque verborum, qua? vestra prudentia est, per- 
spexistis. Atque in eo non solum ingenium elucere ejus vide- 
batis; quod sjepe, etiamsi industria non alitr.r, valet tamen ip- 
sum suis virions : sed inerat (nisi me propter benevolentiam 
forte fallebat) ratio et bonis artibus instituta et'eura et virpiliis 
elaborata. Atque scitcte, indices, eas cupiditates quae objici- 
untur Cceiio, atque ba:c stadia de quibus dispute, ('**) non fa- 
cile in ecdem homine esse poise: fieri enim non potest^ ut ani- 
mus Ubidini deditus, arnore, desiderio, cupiditate, saepe nimia. 
copia, inopia ; etiam npnnunqu'am impeding, boc quidquid est, 
quod nos facimus.in dicendo, non modo agendo, verum etiam 
iogitando, poisit sustiner;* An vos aliam causam else ullam 
putatis,cum in tantis prxmiis eluquentKe tanta voluptate dicendi, 



(32) Non facile in eodem hcmiinr cfcc pof.-;c.~\ What is here advanced 
ITUT51 be looked upon not as the orator's real sentiments, but as something 
specious thrown out in order to' make the best of his cause. Had it been 
necefeary, Cie,ero could easily have produced a variety of characters 
■wherein gallantry and explication to' study and businefs were united: and 
indeed a moderate acquaintance with jhe \\orJd wilt show that there is in 
iaet no inconsistence between them. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 337 

recall bis thoughts to his private concerns, to those of the fo- 
rum, and to those of the state, that what he had not before 
viewed with the eye of reason, he may seem to have rejected 
through satiety, and to have slighted from experience. And 
indeed there have been many great and eminent men, my lords, 
in our own days, and in the days of our fathers and forefathers, 
who, after the heat of youthful pafsion has abated, have, in the 
maturity of age, displayed the most sublime and illustrious vir- 
tues. It is needlefs for me to name any of them, you your- 
selves can recollect them; for I will not blend even the 
slightest failing of any brave and illustrious man with his great- 
est praise. Were I disposed to do it, I could mention many 
great and celebrated persons, some of whom, however, were, 
in the early part of life, very licentious, others profusely lux- 
urious, some involved in debt, -Others extravagant and de- 
bauched : but these miscarriages, being covered afterwards by 
many virtues, might be defended by any one, by pleading their 
youth, 

Sect. XIX. As to M. Ccelius, (for, now that relying on your 
wisdom, I have readily acknowledged some of his indiscretions, 
I will speak with more boldnefs of his virtuous pursuits), it will 
be found that he has never been luxurious, never extravagant, 
never in debt, never pafsionately fond of voluptuous banquet- 
ings, or places of bad fame. For lust and intemperance are so 
far from being diminished, that they are increased by age. 
But as to amours, and what we call gallantly, which generally 
do not long disturb those who are endued with any firmness of 
.mind (for they soon decay), these never fettered, never en- 
grofsed him. You heard him when he pleaded his own cause ; 
you heard' him before, when he accused Palla : I say this to de- 
fend him, and not to boast of him: you observed, such is your 
discernment, his manner of pleading, his great readinefs, and 
the richnefs of his sentiments and language. You saw in him, 
not only the brightnefs of genius, which is often powerful of it- 
self without the aids of industry; but, if my friendship for him 
does not bias me, there likewise appeared in what he said, a 
great deal of judgment and understanding, such as showed both 
an acquaintance with the liberal arts and sciences, and great di- 
ligence and application. And know, my lords, that it is scarce 
poisible for such r^afsions as Coelius is charged with , and the studies 
1 speak of, to be united in the same person. For it is impossible 
that a mind abandoned to lewdnefs, enslaved by amours, by desire, 
by paision, often embarrafsed by too great abundance, and some- 
times by want, can either exert that activity , or bestow that inteiise- 
nefs of thought, that is necefsary to perform what we do in elo- 
quence, how little soever it may be. Can any other reason be as- 
signed, do you imagine, why the number of those who apply to 



538 M. T.'SlfcXHOXlS 6RATIbNES, 

tanta laude, tanta gloria, tanto honore, tarn sint pauci, sem- 
perque fuerint, qui in hoc labbre verseotur? Omittendae sunt 
omnes voluptates; relinquenda studia delectationis ; ludus,*jo- 
cus, convivium, sermo etiam pene omnium familiarum dese- 
rendus ; quae res in hoc genere homines a labore, studioque 
dicendi deterret ; non quo aut ingenia deficiant, aut doctrina 
puerilis. An hie, si sese isti vitas dedifset, consularem homi- 
nem admodum adolescens in judicium vocavifset ? hie, si labo^ 
rem fugeret, si obstrictus vdluptatibus teneretur, in hac acie 
quotidie versaretur? appeteret inimicitias ? in judicium vocaret? 
subiret periculum capitis ? ipso inspectar#e popi}k> Komano, tot 
menses aut de salute, aut de gloria dimicaret f" 

XX. Nihil igitur ilia vicinitas redolet ? nihil hominum fama F 
nihil Baias denique ipsa? loquuntur? Hlae vero non loquuntur so~ 
hriri, verum etiam personam, hue unius mulieris libidinem efse 
prolapsam, ut ea non modo solitudinem, ac tenebras, atque 
hsec {iagitiorum integumenta non quaerat, sed in turpifsimis re- 
bus frequentissima celebritate et clarissima. luce laetetur. Verum 
si quis est, ("') qui etiain meretriciis amoribus interdictum ju- 
ventuti putet, est ille quidem valde severus ; negare non pof~ 
sum; sed abhorret non modo ab hujus seculi licentia, verum 
etiam a majorum consuetudjne, atque concefsis , quando enim 
hoc non factum est ? quando reprehensum ? quando non per- 
inifsum ? quando denique fuit, ut, quod licet, non liceretr Hie 
ego jam rem definiam : mulierem nullam nominabo; tantum in 
medium relinquam. Si qua? non riupta mulier domum suam pa- 
tefecerit omnium cupiditati, palamque sese in meretricia vita col- 
locarit, virorum alienifsimorum conviviis uti instituerit : si hoc in 
urbe, si in hortis, si in Baiarum ilia, celebritate faciet : si denique 
ita sese geret, nonincessu solum, sed ornatu atque comitatu ; non 
flagranti*! oclorum, non libertate sermonis, sed etiam complexu, 
osc'ulatione, aquis, navigatione, conviviis, utnon solum meretrix, 
sed etiam procax videatur : cum hac si quis adolescens forte fuerit, 
utrurji hictibi, L. Herenni, adulter, an amator ; expugnare pudi- 



(33) Qjn etiam meretriciis amoribus interdictum. juvenluti putet."] This 
pats age is often quoted by the libertine -with abundance of triumph and 
satisfaction, as giving a kind of sanction to his debaucheries. But there is 
no great reason for triumph : Cicero the orator, and Cicero the philosor 
prter, speak often very different language; and wherfever this is the case, 
siireiy the sentiments of the latter are to be preferred to those pf the for- 
mer. He is here pleading the cause of Calius, whom he knew to be a li- 
bertine; and a great part of what he advances must be looked upon as 
mete declamation, so that no great strefs is to be laid upon it : in his Of- 
fices, and his other philosophical writings, he talks in a very different 
strain, as all know who have read them with any degree of attention. The 
debauchee therefore, if he would have Cicero for his advocate, must take 
Cicero for his guide, must renounce the pernicious path of vice and folly, 



339 

this study, is at present, and always has been so fefhallj though 
its rewards, its pleasures, its glory, its honour, is so Very great? 
All pleasures must be relinquished ; delightful pursuits thrown 
up; diversions, mirth, banqueting, nay almost tne conversation 
of our intimate friends, must be renounced : this is what dis- 
courages men from the laborious study of eloquence, and not 
the want of genius or education. If Ccelius had followed such 
a course of life, would he have impeached a person of consular 
dignity, when so very young ? If lie were averse to labour, if 
he were held fast m the chains of pleasure, would he appear 
every day in this field of battle ■? Avould he be fond of enmity ? 
would he arraign any person ? would he expo.se his life to dan- 
ger ? would he contend for so many months, before the whole 
people of Rome, either for glory or preservation ? 

Sect. XX. But does the neighbourhood of Clodio send forth 
no odours? is the public voice silent? do not the waters of 
Baiae speak ? They not only speak, but they bawl ou-% that the 
lewdnefs of one woman is such, that she docs not only not look for 
solitude and darknefs, and the like covers for crimes, but takes 
pleasure in practising the most infamous debaucheries before 
crowds, and in the face of day. But if any person thinks that 
free intercourse even with prostitutes is to be denied to youth, 
such a one is severe indeed : I cannot contradict him; this, how- 
ever, I must say, that he differs not only from the freedom of 
the present age, but likewise from what our forefathers prac- 
tised and allowed. For was there ever a time when it was not 
done ? when it was condemned ? when it was not tolerated ? 
Li a word, was 'there ever a time in which a thing allowable was 
not allowed ? I will here propose a question ; I shali name no 
lady, but leave every one to judge for himself: if an unmarried 
woman should throw her house open to the lusts of all, profefs 
herself openly to be a prostitute, go frequently to entertaiments 
with mere strangers; if she should do this in the city, in her 
gardens, and at the Baise, a place of such resort; in a word, if 
she should show herself, not only by her gait, but by her drefs 
and train, not by the sparkling of her eyes and her indecent 
conversation, but likewise by her kifses, by her embraces, by 
her behaviour at the baths, in pleasure-boats, and at entertain- 
ments, to be not only a prostitute, but an impudent one ; if a 
young gentleman should happen to be seen with such a lady, 
whether, Herennius, would you look upon him as an adulterer, 



exchange the gratifications of a brute for the pleasures of a man ; in * 
b V °S ortfoR make VirtUC hlS Ch ° iCe ' 3nd then ha PP inefs wiU certainly 



340 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

citiam, an explere libidinem voluifke videatur ? ( 3 *) Objiviscor 
jam injtirias, Clodia: depono memoriam doloris mei : quap. abs 
te crudeliter in meos, me absente, facta sunt, negligo; ne.sint 
haec in te dicta qua^ dixi ; sed ex te ipsa require- ; quoniam et 
crimen accusatores abs te, et testem ejus enminis te ipsam di- 
cunt.se habere ; si qua mulier sit hujusmodi, qualem ego paulo 
ante descripsi, tui difsimilis, vita institutoque meretricio, cum 
bac aliquid adolescentem hominem habuifse rationis, num tibi 
perturpe, aut perflagitiosum efse videatur ? Ea si tu non es, 
sicut ego malo, quid est quod objiciant Ccelio ? sin earn te vo- 
lunt else, quid est, cur nos crimen hoc, si tu contemnis, perti- 
Biescamus ? Quare, nobis da viam rationemque defensionis ; 
nam et pudor tuus defendet, nihil- a M. Ccelio petulantius efse 
factum; aut imp-udentia et huic, et ceteris magnam ad se de-. 
fendendum facuitatem dabit, 

XXL Sed quoniam emersifse jam e vadis, etscopulos praeter r . 
vecta videtur oratio mea, perfacilis mihi reliquus cursus osten^ 
ditur. Duo sunt enim crimina una in muliere summorum fa- 
cinorum; auri, quod sumptum a Clodia dicitur : et veneni, 
quod ejusdem Clodiee necandge causa parafse Ccelium criminan- 
tur. Aurum sumpsit, ut dicitis, quod L. Lucceii servis. daret, 
per quos Alexandrinus Dio, qui turn apud Lucceium habitabat, 
necaretur. Magnum crimen ve\ in legatis insidiandis, velin 
servis ad hospitem domi necandum solicitandis: plenum sceleris 
consilium, plenum audaciae. Quo quidem in crimine primum 
illud requiram, dixent-ne Clodiae, quam ad rem aurum turn 
slime-ret, an non dixerit ? si non dixit, cur dedit ? si dixit, 
eodein se conscientiae scelere devinxit. Tu-ne aurum ex arma- 
rio tuopromere ansa es ? tu-ne ( 35 ) Venerem illam tuam spolia- 
triceui spoliare ornamentis ? Catterum, cum scires quantum ad 
facinus aurunJ hoc qurereretur, ad necem scilicet legati, ad 
L. Lucceii, sanctifsimi hominis atque integerrimi, labem, sceleris 
sempiterni ; huic facinori tanto tua mens liberalis conscia, tua 
domus populavis ministra, tua denique hospitalis ilia Venus ad- 
jutrix efse non debuit. Vidit hoc Balbns: [facinoris tan turn] 
celaturm efse Clodiam dixit, atque ita Ccelium ad illam attulifse, 
se ad ornatum ludorum aurum quporere. Si tarn famiiiaris erat 
Clodia-, quam tu e&e vis ? cum de libidine ejus tarn multa dicis ; 
dixit proiecto, quo vellet aurim : si tarn famiiiaris non erat, non 



(34) Oblivi scor jam injurias, Clodia,'] Cicero here refers to the injurious 
treatment he met with from the Clodian family, when he went into banish- 
ment; tor an account of which, see his oration/or his o-x-ii house. 

(35) Venerem illam tuam spoliatricem.'] It appears from several pafsages 
of the ancient's, that it was usual for prostitutes to have a statue of Venus 
in their closets* which they generally adorned with jewels: accordingly 
Clodia is said to have had a very fine one of gold. 



341 

or a gallant; as one who wanted to attack chastity, or only to 
gratify his pafsion ? I now iorget my wrongs^ Ctbdia ; I lay 
aside the rememb at I muttered ; I pals over your 

cruelty to my fan <>y absence. Let not what I have said 

T)e appK&d to you; but as the prosecutors give out, that you 
fun. km with this accusation, and that your evidence is 

"to pi 0/0 the fact, I ask yourself whether, if there is such a woman 
as I iiave just now described, of a character indeed very unlike 
yours, but who is a profeised prostitute, you would look upon 
it to be a very shameful or a very criminal thing for a young 
gentleman to have any intercourse with her ? If you are not 
the woman, as I hope you are not, what is it they can object to 
' Ccelius ■? but if you are, why should we be afraid of an accusa- 
tion which you despise ? Furnish us then with the means of 
making our defence ; for either your chastity will prove that 
'Ccelius has done nothing infamous, or your impudence will 
plead strongly in his favour, and in that of others. 

Sect. XXI. "iBut as I seem now to have got clear of the shal- 
lows and rocks that stood in my way, an easy course presents 
itself for the rest of my cause. Ccelius is charged with two 
enormous crimes against the same lady ; with having borrowed 
gold of Clodia, and with having prepared poison to kill her : 
"the money he borrowed, according to you, to be given to the 
'slaves of L. Lucceius, by whom he was to murder Dio the 
Alexandrian, who lived at that time with Lucceius. A weighty 
charge this, either to lay snares for ambafsadors, or to solicit 
slaves to afsafsinate their master's guest: a design fraught with 
'guilt, fraught with audaciousnefs. But here I will ask, in the 
first place, whether Ccelius told Clodia for what purpose he 
borrowed the money at that time, or whether he did not ? If he 
did not tell her, why did she give it him? If he did, she was 
equally guilty. Did you dare to take gold out of your cabinet r 
to strip that plundering Venus of yours of her ornaments? Be- 
sides, when you knew for what horrid purposes this money was 
borrowed ; namely, to afsafsinate an ambafsador, to fix an 
eternal blot on the character of L. Lucceius, a man of the 
greatest worth and integrity ; your generous heart ought never 
to have been privy, your popular roof subservient, nor that 
hospitable Venus of yours accefsary to so enormous a crime. 
Bal bus was sensible of this; accordingly he says, that Clodia 
knew nothing of the matter, and that Ccelius told her he asked 
the money to defray the expenses of his public sports. li 
was fo very intimate with Ciodia, as you would have us believe, 
when you enlarge so much upon his debauchery, he certainly 
• told her what he intended to do with the gold; if he was not 
so intimate, then she did not give it him. If Ccelius then, O 
abandoned woman! told you the truth, you was conscious 



342 M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

dedit. Ita, si verum tibi Ccelius dixit, 6 immodrata mulier I 
scieus tu aurum ad facinus dedisti : si nou est ausus dicere. non 
dedisti, 

XXII. Quid ego nunc arguments huic crimini, quag sunt in- 
numerabilia, resi^tam? pofsum dicere, mores M. Ccelii longis- 
siine a tanti sceleris atrocitate efse disjunctos: minime efse cre- 
dendum, homini tarn ingenioso tamque prudenti non venitse in 
mentem, rem tanti sceleris ignotis alienisque servis non efse 
credendam. Pofsum etiam ilia et cseterorum patronorum et 
inea. consuetudine, ab accusatore perquirere, ubi sit congrefsus 
cum servis Lucceii Ccelius: qui ei fuerit aditus ; si per se, qu£ 
temeritate !. si per alium, per quern ? pofsum omnes latebras 
suspicionum peragrare dicendo: non causa, non locus, non 
facultas, non conscius, non perficiendi, non occultandi raale- 
ficii spes non ratio ulla, non vestigium maximi facinoris repe- 
rietur. Sed haic quae sunt oratoris propria, quae mihi non propter 
ingenium meum, sed propter hanc exercitationem usumque di- 
cendi, fructum aliquem ferre potuifsent, cum a me ipso laborata 
proferri viderentur, brevitatis causa, relinquo omnia. Habeo 
enim, judices, quern vos socium vestrae religionis jurisque jurandi 
facile else patiemini, (> 6 ) L. Lucceium, sanctifsimum hominem, 
et gravifsimum testem; qui tantum facinus in famam atque for- 
tunas suas neque non audifset illatum a Coelio, neque neglexis- 
set, neque tulifset. An die vir, ilia humanitate prseditus, illis 
studiis, artibus atque doctrina, jllius ipsius periculum, quem 
propter hasc ipsa studia deligebat, negligere potuifset r et quod 
facinus in alien urn hominem illatum severe acciperet, id omisis- 
set curare in hospite ; quod, per ignotos actum cum comperifset, 
doloret, id a suis tentatum negligeret ? quod in agris, locis-ve 
publicis factum reprehenderet, id in urbe. ac suae domi cceptum 
efse leviter ferret ? quod in alicujus agrestis peiiculo non prae- 
termitteret, id homo eruditus in insidiis doctiisimi bominis dis- 
simulandum putaret ? Sed cur diutius vos, judices, teneor ipsiqs 
jurati religionem, auctoritatemque percipite, atque omnia dili- 
genter tcstimonii verba cognoscite. ( 57 )Ricita testimonium Luc- 
ceii. TESTIMONIUM LUCCEII. Quid exspectatis amplius ? 
an aliquam voceni putatis ipsam pro se causam et veritatem 



(36) L. Lucceiitm fanctifsimum hominem.'] This Lucceius was a man of 
great learning and abilities : he wrote the history of the Italic and Marian 
civil wars, and undertook that of Cicero's consulship ; but whether he 
finished it, or not, is uncertain. There is a celebrated letter of our orator 
to this Lucceius, which is often alleged as a proof of his excefsive vanity 
and iove of praise." 

(37) Recita testimonium Lucceii.~\ Lucceius w^as not present himself at 
this trial, but sent Ins evidence, which was publicly read in court. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 



to the -crime, arfd gave him money to perpetrate it : if he did 
not dare Co tell yott^nen you did not give it. 

Sect. XXII. Why now should I refute this accusation by 
arguments which may be brought without number ? J may say, 
that the manners of M. Coelius are at the greatest distance from 
so enormous a crime: it is not at all credible, that a man of 
such prudence and penetration could ever have thought of en- 
trusting an affair so highly criminal to strange and unknown 
slaves. I may likewise, according to my own custom, and that 
of other pleaders, ask the accuser where Ccelius met with the 
slaves of Lucceius ? how he had accefs to them ? If by himself, 
what rashnefs ! if by another, who was the man? I may enu- 
merate every pofsible gromid of suspicion, and still affirm, that 
there is no foundation for this crime ; that Ccelius could not be 
privy to it, could have no opportunity, no means, no hopes of 
accomplishing, none of concealing it ; in a word, that there is 
not any shadow of proof, any traces of such atrocious guilt. 
But all these, which properly belong to an orator, as I might 
seem to have laboured them with great care, I pafs over for the 
sake of brevity 5 though I might have rendered them service- 
able to me, not through any superiority of genius, but by my 
practice and experience in pleading. For I have, my lords, 
the testimony of L. Lucceius, a man of the strictest honour, 
and of the greatest authority, whose oath and integrity you will 
readily allow to be compared. with your own; who must cer- 
tainly have heard of such an attack made by Ccelius upon his 
fame and fortune, and if he had, would neither have despised, 
nor put up with it. Would a man of such politenefs, of such 
erudition, of such knowledge, have neglected the danger of one 
who was so dear to him on account of these very accomplish- 
ments? And would he not have endeavoured to prevent such 
villany when designed against his guest, which he would have 
resented so highly if designed against a stranger ? Would he have 
slighted an action attempted by his own domestics, which would 
have grieved him if committed by those he did not know ? what 
he would have condemned, if done in the fields, or any public 
place, would he have been unconcerned at if attempted in the 
city and in his own house? Would a man of learning connivft 
at a plot against a man of the greatest learning, when he would 
not slight the danger of the meanest peasant ? But why, my 
lords, do I detain you any longer ? consider the integrity and 
authority of this witnefs, on his oath, and weigh Carefully every 
word of his evidence. Read the evidence of Lucceius. The 
evidence of Luccejus. — What more do you expect? Do 
you imagine that this cause itself, and that truth can open their 
mouths, and give evidence for themselves? This is the defence 



344 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

poise mittere? haec est innocentige defensio, haec ipshis causa? 
emtio, haec una vox veritatis: in crimine ipso nulla suspicio est, 
et m re nihil est argumenti: in negotio, quod actum efse dicitur, 
nullum vestigium sermonis, loci, tempons: nemo testis, nemo 
conscius nominatur, totum crimen profertur ex inimica, ex in- 
fami, ex crudeh, ex facinorosa, ex libidinosa domo: domus au- 
tem ilia, quse tentata sceiere isto nefario dicitur, plena est inte- 
gritatis, oiiicii, religionis: ex qua domo re&itatur vobis jure- 
jnrando devincta auctoritas: ut res minime dubia, tamen in con- 
tentione ponatur, utrum temeraria, procax,irata muiier fmxifse 
crimen, an gravis, sapiens, moderatusque vir religiose testimo- 
nium dixii'se videatur. 

XXHI. Beliquum est igitur crimen de veneno : cuius ego 
neque prineipium invenire, neque evolvere exitum poisum. 
Qua} fuit en^m causa, quamobrem isti mulieri venenum velLet 
dare Ccelius ? ne aurum redderetr num petivit? ne crimen 
haereret ? num quis objecit ? num quis denique fecifset men- 
tionem, si hie nemini nomeri" detulifset ? Quin etiam Hereimiurn 
dicere audistis, verbo se molestum non tuturum ruifse Ccelio, 
nisi iterum eadem de re suo familiari absoluto nomen hie detu- 
lifset. Credibile est igitur, tantum facinus null am ob causam 
efse commifsum ? et vos non videtis fmgi sceleris maximi cri- 
men, ut alterius causa sceleris suscipiendi fuifse videatur? Cui 
denique commisit ? quo adjutore usus est ? quo socio ? cui tan- 
tum racinus, cui se, cui salutem suam credidit ? servis-ne nm- 
lieris? sic enim objectum est ; et erat tarn demens hie, cui 
• vos ingenium certe tribuitis, etiamsi csetera inimica oratione 
detrahitis, ut onmes suas for tunas alienis servis committeret? 
at quibus servis ? refert enim magnopere id ipsum : his-ne, 
quos intelligebat non communi conditione servitutis uti, sed 
licentius, liberius, familiarius cum domina vivere? quis enim 
hoc non videt, judices, aut. quis hoc ignorat, in ejusmodi 
domo, in qua mater-familias meretricio more vivat : in qua, 
nihil geratur, quod foras proferendum sit: in qua lustra, 
libidines, luxuries, omnia denique inaudita vitia atque fiagitia 
versentur ; ( 3rt ) hie servos non efse servos, quibus omnia com- 
mittantur, per quos gerantur, qui versentur iisdem in volupta-- 
tibus, quibus occulta credantur, ad quos aliquantum etiam ex 



(JS) Hie servos non efse servos."] Nothing can be more just and sensible 
titan this reflection of- Cicero, that in families where vice and debauchery 
prevail, servants become masters. Being privy to whatever is transacted, 
their masters are entirely in their power ; they are afraid of punishing them 
when they do amiis, and become the objects of their ridicule, of their con- 
tempt, and scorn. _ , 



CICERO's ORATIONS. 345 

of innocence; this the language of the cause itself; this the na- 
tive voice of truth. The charge has no presumption, the 
crime no argument to support it: in the businefs which is said 
to have been transacted, there is not the least appearance of 
consultation, of time, or of place ; no witnefs, no accomplice 
is named : the whole accusation proceeds from the infamous, 
the cruel, the wicked, the lewd house of an enemy: but the 
bouse, on which so foul an imputation is fixed, is full of ho- 
nour, humanity, and truth : from this house evidence is given 
upon oath; so that the matter we are now debating admits of 
vcrv little doubt, only whether it is more likely that a rash, im- 
pudent, angry woman should forge an accusation, ~or that a 
grave, prudent, and worthy man should have the strictest re- 
gard to truth in giving his evidence ? 

Sect. XXIII. All that remains therefore is the charge of poi- 
soning, of which I can neither trace the beginning, nor disco- 
ver the design. For what couk^prompt Ccehus to attempt poi- 
soning that lady ? That he might not return the gold ? pray did 
she ask it ? That he might not be charged with it ? did any ono 
charge him ? would any one even have made mention of it, if 
Ccelius had accused no person ? Besides, you heard Herennius 
say, that he should never have spoke a word against Ccelius, 
if he had not a second time accused his friend of the same 
crime, after being once acquitted. Is it credible then that so 
atrocious a crime was committed without any reason ? and do 
not you see that one enormous. piece of villany is pretended to 
have been committed, that it may seem to have been done in 
order to commit another ? Once more, whom did he employ 
to execute it? whom did he make use of as his accom- 
plice? whom, as his companion? whom, as his confidant? 
Whom did he trust with such a crime, whom with him- 
self, whom with his own safety ? The slaves of this woman ? 
for so it is alleged ; and was this man, whom you allow to 
have capacity, though you deny him every thing, else, guilty 
of such madness as to trust his all to strange slaves? But to 
what kind of slaves ? for this is a circumstance of great impor- 
tance: was it to those whom he knew not to be subject to the 
common lot of slavery, but who lived in a very free and familiar 
manner with their mistrefs ? For who does not see this, my 
lords ? or, who is ignorant that in a house where the mistress 
of a family lives like a common prostitute, in which nothing 
as transacted that c&i be carried abroad, which is a scene of de- 
bauchery, lust, luxury ; in a word, every unheard-of scandal- 
ous excess; that in such a house, I say, slaves are not slaves; 
since every thing is committed to them, every thing conducted 
by them; since they partake of the same pleasures, are in- 
trusted with secret^ and have even some share of the daily ex- 

Z . 



346 M. Tj ciceronis orationes. 

quotidianis sumptibus ac luxuria redandent ? Id igitur Ccdhis 
non videbat ? si enim tarn familiar is erat mulieris, quam vos 
;Tultis; istos qnoque servos familiares else dominse sciebat ; sin 
ei tanta consuetudo, quanta a vobis inducitur, non erat, quae 
cum servis potuit familiaritas else tanta ? 

XXI.V. Ipsiusautem veneni qua' ratio fingitur? jabi quccsituni 
est? quemadmodum paratum r quo paetp ? cui, quo in loco tra- 
(litum? llabuifse aiunt doirji, vimquc ejus else expertum in 
hcrvoquodam ad rem . ipsam parato, cuius pcrceleri interim eise 
ab hoc comprobatuni venenum. ( 39 ) Pro dii immortales ! cur 
interdu-in in .hornimmi sceleribus maximis, aut connivetis, ant 
prsusentis fraudis pcenas in diem reservatis ? Vidi enim, vidi, ct 
ilium hausi dolorem vel acerbitsimum in vita, cum Q. Metelius 
abstraheretur e sinu gremioque patriae: Cumque ilie vir, qui se 
joatum huic iinperio putavit, tertio die post, quam in curia, in 
.rostrisj in repub. floruifset, inte^errima artate, optimo habitu, 
.maximis virions, eriperetur indigniisime bonis omnibus arque 
universes civitati ; quo quidem tempore ille moriens, cum jam 
eaeteris ex partibus opprel'sa mens efsct, extremum sen sum ad 
memoriam reip. reservabat : cum me intuens rlentem significa- 
,bat, interruptis atque moricntihus vocibus, quanta impenderet 
procella urbi, quanta tempestas civitati; et cum parietem 
sa:pe feriens eum, qui cum Q. Catulo fuerat ei communis, 
erebo Catulum, saepe me, stcpifsime rempublicam nominabat, 
ut non tarn seemori, quam spoliari suo prasidio cum patriam; 
turn etiam me doleret. Quern quidem virum si nulla vis re- 
pcntini sceleris sustulifset ; quonam modo ille furenti fratri 
suo patrueli consuleris restitifset, ( 4o ) qui consul incipientem 
fuere atque conar.lem, sua se maim interfccturum, audiente se- 
natu dixeritr" Ex hac igitur domo prog.reisa ista uiuiier de vc- 
ueni celeritate dicere audebitr nonne ipsam donmm metuet, 
ne quam vocem eliciat non parietes conscios, non noctem illam 
iunestam ac luctuosam perhorrescct r Sed revcrtar ad crimen; 



(39) Pro dii timnor. tales. f] Clodta was commonly thought to have pri- 
soned her husband, Q Metelius, who was an excellent magistrate, and a 
firm patriot, as .well to revenge his opposition to the a tempts of her bro- 
ther, as to gain the Greater liberty of pursuing his own amOtifs. Accordingly 
Cicero, interrupting the thread oMus argument, in a manner extremely 
wejl adapted to' move his hearers, inveighs against her astonishing impu- 
dence in daring to accuse (ulius ot" a cjesign to poison her, when she 
.herself lay under the suspicion of having poisorecl her own husband, on 
whom, to renuV her ihar;.:-ter, if poisible, still - iuore odibus, the orator 
"bestow? very h'mh. and indeed very just commendations. 
• (10) Q,'// " consul incipientem J it r ere, a/< : 

Jncturuni, iraditnte scnafu dixerit.] The attempt made by Clod 
ahe consulship of Metelius, to obtain the tribunate, that he might be 
revenge hlmsell upon Cicero, is here referred ti 



347 



penscs and luxury ? Did not Ccelius -then perceive this? for if he 
was so familiar with the lady as you give out, he could not b 
know that these slaves were familiar with their mistrefs ; b' I 
there was no such intimacy as you charge iiixn with, how 
he be so very intimate with her slaves \ 



Sect. XXIV. But how is this charge in regard to 
tendered' probable? Where was it got ? how was i\ id ? 

by what means? to whom, and where was it de 1 They 

say he had it at home, and tried its force on a sla.v .<om he 
got on purpose, and whose sudden death convinced him of its 
efficacy. Immortal gods ! why do you sometimes either wink 
at the mast enormous crimes of mankind, or defer the punish- 
ment of present wicked nefs ? For I myself saw, and nothing in 
my whole life ever affected me With deeper sorrow, 1 saw 
Q. Metelius torn from the arms and bosom of his country ; saw 
that man, who thought himself born for this empire, cut off, in 
the basest manner, from all the virtuous, and from the whole 
£tate, in the prime of his days, in perfect health and full vigour, 
on the third day after he had distinguished himself in the senate, 
in the rostrum, and in the government. At the time of his 
death, when every other feeling was extinguished, he reserved 
his last for his country, and casting his eyes upon me, who 
was difsolved in tears, intimated with faltering and dying ac- 
cents, how great a storm hung over this city, how great a 
tempest over the state; and frequently striking the wall, which 
was common to Catufus and him, often named Catulus, often 
me, and very often the republic ; so that death did not give 
him so much concern as the thoughts that his country, and that 
1 was deprived of his afsi stance. If no sudden violence had 
cut off this man, in what manner would he, when arrived at 
consular dignity, have opposed the fury of his cousin, when 
he declared during his consulafship, in the hearing of the senate^ 
that he would kill him with his own hand, though only be- 
ginning and attempting his furious measures ? Shall a woman, 
then, from that very house, dare to mention the quick efficacy 
of poison ? shall she not be afraid lest the house itself should, 
open its mouth against her? shall she not tremble at the sight 
pi the conscious walls, not dread the remembrance of th&t fatal, 
that mournful flight ? But I return to the accusation : for the 



Ciodius was a patrician, and, as such, incapable of the tribunate: accord- 
ingly his first step was to ma'l&e himself a plebeian, by the pretence of am 
adoption into a plebeian house; When this affair was first moved to the 
senate by Hereimius, ' an obscure, hardy tribune, the case being wholly 
new, and contrary to all the forms, it met with no encouragement ThV 
consul Metellu^ though biother-inlawto Ciodius, warmly opposed it, and 
declared, That he would sffdwgle Ciodius sooner uiih his own hands, thmt 
ihtffer hu.'r to bring such a disgrace upon his/cmi'u. ■ 

" r l 2 



3*8 T. M. CICERONIS ORATIQNES. 

mm ha:c facta illias elarifsimi ac fortifsimi viri mentio et vo 
meam fletu debiiitavif, et mentem dolore impedivit. 

Sed tamen venerium unde merit, quemadmoduin pa- 
i non dicitur. Datum efse hoc aiunt P. Licinio, pu- 

dei ^enti, et bono, Coelii familiar! : eonstitutum factum 

efse is, ut venirent ad, balneas Xenias: eodemLicinium 

else vt"- ., atque iis veneni . pyxidem ■ tradk'urum. Hie pri- 

mum ill ud requiro,quid attinueritillud ferri in eum locum eon- 
stitutum? cur illi servi non ad Coelmtn domum venerint? si ma- 
nebat tanta ilia cousuetudo Ccelii cum Clodia, tantaque famili- 
aritas, quid suspieionis efset, si apud Ccelium mulieris servus 
visus efset? Sin autem jam suberat simultas, extincta. erat con- 
suetudo, discidium exstiterat; hine ilte lacrvmas nimirum, et 
hsec causa est horum omnium scelerum atque criminum. Immo, 
inquit, cum servi ad dominam rem istam, et malericium Ccelii 
detuliisent, mulier ingeniosa praecepit suis, : ut omnia Ceelio pol- 
licerentur: sed, ut venenum, cum a Licinio traderetur mani- 
festo comprehendi pofset, constitui locum jufsit balneas Xeniasj 
ut eo mitteret amicos, qui delitescerent : deinde repente, cum 
venifset Licinius, ut venenum traderet, prosilirent, homineinque: 
comprehenderent. 

XXVI. Qua? quidem omnia, judices, perfacilem rationem ha- 
bent reprehendendi ; cur enim balneas publicas potifsimum con- 
Stituerat ? in quibus non invenio qure latebra togatis hominibus 
else pofsit; nam si efsent in vestibulo balnearum, non laterent: 
sin se in intimum conjicere vellent, nee satis commode calceati 
et vestiti id facere pofsent, et fortafse non reciperentur : nisi 
forte mulier potens, ( 4l ) quadrantana ilia permutatione, fami- 
iiaris facta erat balneatori. Atque equidem vehementer exspec- 
raoarn, quinam isti viri boni, testes hujus manifesto deprehensi 
veneni dicerentur ; nulli enim sunt aclhunc nominati ; sed 
non dubito quin sint pergraves, qui primum sint talis fceminae 
familiares ; deinde cam provinciam susceperint, ut in balneas 
contruderentur : quod ilia nisi a viris honestifsimis, ae pleniisi- 
iii is- dignitatis, quam velit, si potens, nunquam impetravifset. 
Sed quid ego de dignitate istorum testium locjuor ? virtntem 
eorum diligentiamque eognoseite ; in balneis delituerunt ; testes 
egregios ! deinde temere prosiluerunt; homines gravitati dedi- 
tos ! Sic enim fmgunt ; cum Licinius venifset, pyxidem teneret in 

(41) Quadrant arid ilia pcrnnrfatio)ie.~\ Plutarch informs us that Clodia 
was called Quadraniaria, from her having been bilked by one of her young 
gallants, who gave her a quadrans, or fourth part of an as instead of a piece 
ol sold. Cicero, by his using the word ilia, probably refers to this, a* 
being a well-known story; but he, no doubt, means to insinuate farther, 
that she was familiar with the bagnio-keeper, and bestowed her favours 
upon him, instead of the quadrans which he received from every one who 
used his bath. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 349 

tears I have shed at the mention of that brave and illustrious 
man have weakened my voice, and ' my grief has discomposed 
my mind. 

Sect. XXV. It is not said, however, whence this poison 
came, nor how it was prepared They allege it was given to 
P. Licinius, a young man -of vir 
of Ccelius ; that an appointmt made h 

rCome to the Senian bath, whither L <iie, 

and to deliver them a box of \ ?ison. Now here I wouiu fir$t 
ask, what end could be answered by carrying it to the appointed 
place? why did not these slaves come to the house of Ccelius? 
If there was still so close a. connexion, and so great an intimacy 
betwixt Ccelius and Clodia, what suspicion would one of her 
slaves being seen at his house have occasioned? But if there 
already subsisted a secret aversion, if the intimacy was difsolved^ 
and a quarrel arisen, this was the ground of all the concern, 
this the source from whence all this guilt and all these accusa- 
tions are derived. Nay, but 'tis said, that when the slaves of 
Clodia informed her of the matter, and of the wicked designs 
of Ccelius, this shrewd woman ordered them to promise hirn 
-every thing • and, in order to have clear evidence of the poison 
when delivered by Licinius, desired the Senian bath to be the 
place appointed, that she might send some of her friends thither 
.to lie in ambush, and., when Licinius should come and deliver 
the poison, to rush out suddenly and seize him. 

Sect. XXVI. But all this, my lords, may very .easily be re- 
futed: for why should she particularly make .choice of the pub- 
lic baths, in which I don't see how gentlemen in full drefs can 
pofsibly be concealed ? for, at the entrance of the bath, they 
must be seen : were they to thrust themselves into the jnner 
part, their shoes and clothes must incommode them ; admittance 
too might have been denied them., unlefs perhaps that powerful 
lady procured it by^bestowing her favours on the bagnio-keeper, 
instead of the price of bathing. And indeed I was very impa- 
tient to hear the names of these worthy men, who are said to 
be witnefses of the seizing of this poison ; for as yet none of 
them have been named. I do not question, however, but they 
are very considerable persons ; in the first place, as they are 
intimate with. such a lady, and in the next, as they undertook 
to conceal themselves in a bath ; a favour which no degree of 
power whatever could have procured her, bur. from men of the 
greatest honour and dignity. But why do I mention the dig- 
nity of these witnefses ? Observe there bravery and addrefs. 
They concealed themselves in a bagnio. Excellent witnefses ! 
Then they rushed out of a sudden. Grave gentlemen truly ! The 
story is thus told ; when Licinius came with the box in. his hand, 

Z 3 



350 M. T. CICERONIS 0K.ATI0NES. 

man a, conaretur trad ere, nondum tradidifset, turn repente evo^ 
LVise istos prasclaros testes sine nomine: Licinium autem, cum 
jam matmm adtradendam pyxidem porrexifset, retraxifse, atque 
illo repentino hominum impetu se in fugam conjecifse. O 
magna vis veritatis, qua) contra hominum ingenia, calliditatem ? 
solertiam, contraque fictas omnium insidias facile se per se 

; r II. Ver urn base veteriset plurimarurn fabu- 

larum poetrise, quam e \ mto ? quam nullum invenire 

.xitum potest ? Quid enim isti tot viri (nam necefse est fuifse 
iion paucos, tit et comprebendi Licinius facile pofset, et res muU 
torum oculis efset testatior) cur Licinium de manibus amise- 
runt ? qui minus enim Licinius comprebendi potuit, cum 
se retraxit, ne pyxidem traderet, quam si non retraxifset ? erant 
enim illi positi, ut comprehenderent Licinium; uc manifesto 
Licinius teneretur, apt cum retineret vetienum aut cum tradi- 
difset; hoc fuit totum consilium mulieris, haec istorum proviheia, 
qui rogati sunt : quos quictem tu quamobrcm temere prosiluiiVe 
dicas, atque ante tempus, non reperio ; fuerant hoc rogati : 
fuerant ad banc rem collocati ut venenum, ut insidia?, facinus 
denique ipsum ut manifesto comprehenderetur ; potuerunt-ne 
meliori tempore prosilire, quam cum Licinius venifset? cum in 
manu teneret veneni pyxidem ? qua? si cum jam erat tradita ser- 
vis, evasifsent subito ex balneis mulieris amici, Liciniumque 
comprehendifsent: imploraret hominum fklem, atque a. se illam 
pyxidem traditam pernegaret: quern quomodo illi reprehende- 
rent? vidifse se dicerentr primum ad se revocarent maximi fa- 
einoris crimen : deinde id se vidifse dicerent, quod, quo loco 
collocati fuifscnt, non potuifsent videre. Tempore Igitur ipso 
se ostenderunt cum Licinius venifset, pyxidem expediret, ma- 
num porrigeret, venenum traderet. (+*) Mimi ergo est jam 
exitus, non tabula: : in quo cum clausula non inyenitur, fugit 
aliquis e manibus, deinde scabeila concrepant, aulaum tollitur. 

XXVIII. Quaro enim, cur Licinium titubantem, haesi tan tern, 
cedentem, fugere conantem, nmlieraria maims ista de manibus 
emiserit: cur non comprehenderint? cur non ipsius confeisione, 
mukorum oculis, facinpris denique voce, tanti sceieris crimen 
exprefserint ? an timebant, ne tot unum, yalentes imbecillum, 



(42) Mimi ergo est jam exhus, non fabuhc.~\ Diomedes defines the Mimiis 

to be an irreverent, arid lascivious imitoiic/i oj obscene acts. It seems to ha\e 
been a confused medley of comic drollery on a variety of subjects, without 
any consistent order or design ; delivered by one actor, and heightened 
with all the license of obscene gesticulation.* Its best character, as prac- 
tised by its greatest master, Laberius, was that of being witty in a ver\ bad 
way, and its sole end and boast, risu diduccre nctum. ' lis with great pro- 
priety, therefore, that Cicero compares this incoherent story of the : 
Mimus, wherein there was no connexion or regular design. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 351 

and endeavoured to give it away, but had not as yet done it, 
these noble witnofses without name, rushed out of a sudden ; 
upon this Licinius, who had already stretched out his hand to 
deliver the box, drew it back, and, being frightened at the 
sudden attack of these gentlemen, betook himself to flight. 
O the mighty power of truth, which easily defends herself 
against the contrivances, subtlety, and artifice of mankind, and 
against all the secret arts of fiction ! 

Sect. XXVII. But all this fable which is invented by a lady 
that has Jong dealt in fictions, how voioi of probability is it ! 
how unconnected and intricate ! Why did so many men suffer 
Licinius to escape? for their number could not be small, both 
that it might be the easier to seize Licinius, and that the maU 
ter might be the better attested. Was it more difficult to seize 
him when he drew back that he might not deliver the box, 
than if he had not drawn back ? for they were placed there on 
purpose to seize Licinius, to catch him in the fact, either with 
the poison about him, or after he had delivered it. This was 
all the lady purposed; this was the businefs of those who were 
employed by her ; and why you should say that they rushed 
out rashly, and too soon, I cannot conceive. This was what, 
they were employed for ; with this view they were placed 
there, that the poison, the plot, in a word, the whole villanv, 
might be clearly discovered. Could they have rushed out more 
opportunely than when Licinius came in ? when he held the 
feox of poison in his hand? For if the lady's friends had sallied 
forth, and seized Licinius after it was delivered to the slaves, 
he would have called out for aisi stance, and denied that the 
box was delivered by him. And in this case, how could they 
have convicted him ? would they have said they saw him ? 
Why tiiis, in the first place, must have brought upon them- 
selves an accusation for a very heinous crime; and, in the 
next, they must have affirmed that they saw what they could 
not pofsibly have seen from the place where they were con- 
cealed. They showed themselves therefore the very moment 
that Licinius came, when lie was going to give the box, when 
he was stretching forth his hand, when he was delivering the 
poison. This then is the end of a farce, not of a comedy, in 
which, when there is no conclusion, some person makes his 
escape, the benches creak, and the curtain is drawn. 

Sect. XXVIII. For I ask, why the lady's troop suffered Lici- 
nius, while he was in suspense, hesitating, retreating, and endea- 
vouring to make his escape, to slip out of their hands; why they 
did not seize him; why, by hisowheonfefsion, by the eyes of so 
many witnefses; in a word, by the voice of the thing itself, they 
did not prove so enormous a crime in the clearest manner ? Were 

Z4 



352 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIQNES. 

alacres perterritum superare non pofsent ? Nullum argumentum 
in re, nulla suspicio in causa, nuiljus exitus ■criminis reperietur. 
Itaque haec causa ab argumentis, a conjectura, ab iis signis, 
quibus Veritas illustrari solet, ad testes tota traducta est. Quos 
quidem ego testes, judices, non modo sine u 11 o timore, sed 
etiam cum aliqua spe delectationis exspecto; praegestit animus 
jam videre, primum lautos juvenes, muljeris beatae ac nobilis 
familiares : deinde fortes viros, ab imperatrice in insidiis, atque 
jn proesidio balnearum locatos: ex quibus requiram, quonam 
modo latuerint, aut ubi: alveus-ne die, an equus Trojanus fuent, 
qui tot invictos viros, muliebri bellum gerentes, tulerit et tex- 
erit ? Illucl vero respondere cogam, cur tot viri ac tales hunc 
et unum, et tarn imbecillum, quam videtis, non aut stantem 
comprehenderint, aut fugientem consecuti sint; qui se nun- 
quam profecto, si istum in locum procefserint, explicabunt: 
C*- 3 ) quam volent in conviviis faceti, dicaces, nonnunquam etiam 
ad vinum diserti sint; alia fori vis est, alia triclinii : alia sub- 
selliorum ratio, alio lectorum : non idem judicum, commifsato- 
rumque conspectus: lux denique longe alia est solis, et Ivchno- 
rum. Quamobrem excutiemus omnes istorum delicias, omnes 
ineptias, si prodierint ; sed, si me audiant, navent aham operam, 
aliam ineant gratiam, in aliis se rebus ostentent : vigeant apud 
istam mulierem venustate ; dominentur sumptibus ; han-eant, 
jaceant, deserviant : capiti vero innocentis, et fortunis par- 
cant. 

XXIX. An sunt servi illi de cognatorum sententia, nobilifsi- 
morum et clarifsimorum hominum, manumifsi. Tandem ali- 
quid invenimus, quod ista mulier de suorum propinquorum, 
fortifsimorum virorum, sententia atque auctoritate fecifse videa- 
tur. Sed scire cupio, quid babeat argumenti ista manumifsio : 
in qua aut crimen est Ccelio qusesitum, aut quaestio sublevata, 
aut multarum rerum consciis servis, cum causa proemium per- 
solutum. At propinquis placuit ; cur non placeret, cum rem 
tu te ad eos non ab aliis tibi allatam, sed a te ipsa compertam 
deferre diceres ? Hie etiam miramur, (4+) si iliam commen- 



(43) Quani volent in conviviis faceti , dicaces, ?!cunu:iqua?n etiam ad vinum 
diserti sint.'] Cicero here represents, in a very beautiful manner, the insig- 
nificance of that giddy tribe, who spend thei/timein perpetual difsip.ation, 
in noisy mirth, and in insipid gaiety, when they happen to be engaged in 
matters of importance. 

(44) Si Mam cemmentitiam pyxidem obscamifsima sit fabula consecuta.l 
Our orator here alludes to some infamous and notorious story, which tool; 
its rise from this box ; but what it was we are nowhere told. 



CICERO's ORATIONS. S5$ 

they afraid lest they should not be able to get the better of him ? 
What! so many against one, the strong against the weak, the 
bold against the fearful ? The whole matter is without proof, the 
allegations have no presumptions to support them, the charge 
lias no manner of connexion. This cause, therefore, being 
destitute of proofs, presumptions, or any of those circumstances 
by which the truth is usually cleared up, depends solely upon 
witnefses; witnefses, my lords, whom Iwait for not only with- 
out the least apprehension, but even with some hopes of being 
pleased. I long much to see, first, the elegant young gentlemen, 
the friends of a rich and noble lady, and then those brave men 
posted by their commandrefs in ambush, and guarding a bagnio. 
I will ask them, in what manner they were concealed, or where; 
whether it was a large bathing-tub, or a Trojan horse, that con- 
tained and concealed so many invincible men, fighting in the 
service of a lady? I will oblige them to declare, why so many 
and such brave men, having only one person before them, and, as 
you see, so very unable to. resist, did not either seize him as he 
was standing, or pursue him when he fled. If they should ap- 
pear here, I am confident this is what they will never be able 
to account for, how facetious and talkative soever they may be 
at entertainments, nay, and eloquent too, sometimes over their 
bottle. The eloquence of the bar, and of the dining-room, is 
very different; the manner of the bench differs widely from that 
of the cou^ch ; the sight of a judge, and that of a reveller, is far 
from being the same ; in a word, the light of the sun, and that 
of a lamp, have very little resemblance. If they appear, there- 
fore, we shall examine all their jokes, all their pleasantry. But 
if they follow my advice, they will employ themselves differently, 
make their court in another manner, and display talents of a 
different kind. Let them ingratiate themselves with that lady 
by their politenefs ; let them outshine all others in expense ; 
let them accompany her every where, be always near her, and 
ever ready to obey her orders ; but let them be tender of the 
life and fortune pf an innocent man. 

Sect. XXIX. But we are told that these slaves are made free 
by the advice of relations, men of the highest quality and re- 
nown. At last we have found something which this lady- 
may seem to have done by the advice and approbation of 
her relations, who are undoubtedly men of great spirit. But 
I should be glad to know what is proved by this manu- 
mifs.ion ; by which an accusation is either feigned against 
Ccelius, or an examination by torture prevented, or a just re- 
ward bestowed upon slaves, who are acquainted with many 
secrets. The manumifsion, it is said, pleased the relations : how 
should it do otherwise, when you yourself acknowledge that 
you communicated the matter to them, not as what others 



354 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

titiam pyxidem obsccenifsioia sit fabula consecutar Nihil est 
quod in ejusmodi mulierem non cadere videatur; audita [et 
pervulgata] pcrcelebrata sermonibns res est. Percipitis ani- 
rois, judices, jamdudum quid velim, vel potius quid nolim 
clicere. Quod etiam si est factum, certe a, Ccelio non est fac- 
tum ; quid enim attitrebat ? est enim ab aliquo rortafse adolcs- 
cente non tam insulso, quam non verecundo. Sin autem est 
fictum: non illud quideni modestum, sed tamen non est inface- 
tinn mendacium; quod profecto nunquam homiuum sermo, at- 
que opinio comprobaiset, nisi omnia, qua? cum turpitudine ali- 
qua dieerentur, in i^tam quadrare apte viderentur. Dicta est a 
me causa, indices, et perorata; jam intelligitis, quantum judi- 
cium sustineatis, quanta res sit commifsa vobis. De vi quajri- 
tis: quoB lex ad jmpcrium, ad majestatem, ad statum patriae, ad 
salutem omnium pertinet: quam legem Q. Catuius armata dis- 
sensione civium, reipubticae pene extremis temporibus tulit: 
quaeque lex-, sedata ilia rlamma consulatiis mei, fumantis reii- 
quias conjurationis exstinxit. Hac enim lege Ccelii adolcsccrt- 
tia non ad reipublica; pa-nas, sed ad mulieris libidines et delicias 
depocscitur. 

XXX. Atque hoc etiam loco («) M. Camurti et C. F.serni 
<lamnatio prsedicatur. O stultitiam ! stultitiam-ne dicam, an 
inipudentiam singularem? audetis-ne cum ab ea muliere veni- 
atis, facere istorum hominum mentionem ? audetis-ne excitare 
tanti rlagitii memoriam, non extinctam illam quideni, sed repres- 
sam vetustate? Quo enim illi crimine, peccatoque perierunt? 
nempe quod ejusdem mulieris dolorem et injuriatu Vettiano ne- 
fario sunt stupro persecuti. Ergo ut audiretur Vettii nomen in 
causa, (4G) ut ilia vetus Afrania labela rei'ricaretur, idcirco 
Camurti et Eserni catfsa est renovatar qui quanquam lege de 
ri certe non tenebantur, eo maleticio tamen erant implicati, ut 
ex nuliius legis laqueis emittendi riderentur. M. vero ("alius 
■ cur in hoc judicium vocatur? cui neque proprium quastionis 
crimen objicitur, nee veto aliquid ejusmodi, quod sit a lege sc- 
junctum,et cum vestra severitate conjunctum; cujus prima Betas 
ctedita disciplinis fuit, iisque artibus, quibus instruimur ad huue 



(1o) Camurti et C Eserni. damnatio.~\ Camurtus and C. Efernus were 
two wicked instruments employed by Cjodia to a*evenge her upon one 
Vettius, who would not yield to her solicitations; and, on that account, 
became tin- object of her hatred and cruel resentment. They were con- 
cerned in the afsafsination of the Alexandrian ambafsadors, and were con- 
demned for it. 

(46) Ut iiiu vetus Afrania fabula ] This either alludes to one Afranius, a 
pott, who wrote some plays fu-H of ribaldry, or to an impudent woman 
tilled Caia Afrania, mentioned by Valerius Maximus, who informs us that 
sh« was constantly engaged in law-suit- ; that she always pleaded her own 
cause before Ahe praetor ; and that she spoke so much, and so loud, tb;;S 
her name became proverbial in the forum. 



S55 

tad told you, but as what you had discovered yourself? Is it to 
be wondered at, if a most shameful story arose from this ficti- 
tious box ? But there is nothing which such a woman may 'nt be 
supposed capable ofdoiiig ; the tiling is known, and in every- 
body's mouth. You cannot now be ignorant, my lords, of 
what I would, or rather what I would not say. If the tiling was 
done, it certainly was not dojm by Cadi us: for of what advan- 
tage could it have been to him ? It has been done then, perhaps, 
by *ome young fellow who js not so much Void of sense as of 
modest v. But if the whole is a fiction, it is not indeed a modest, 
but it is an humourous one ; it could not however have been 
talked of publicly, nor believed, were it not that the charade.!- 
of that lady is such that there is nothing so shameful which 
does not suit it. I have pleaded the cause of Cudius, my lords, 
I have finished my defence ; you now see the imp:, tance of this 
trial, and how weighty a matter is to be determined by you. 
An accusation of violence is now under your consideration, and 
the law in relation to it concerns our empire, our grandeur, the 
interest of our country, and the common welfare ; a law which 
was made by Q.. Catuius, when our citizens were armed against 
each other, and our liberties almost expiring ; and which, after 
the flames that broke out in my consulship were quenched, ex- 
tinguished the smoking remains of a desperate conspiracy. Up- 
on this law the youth of Ceelius is attacked, not to satisfy the 
demands of public justice, but to gratify the resentment and 
wanton humour of a woman. 

Sect. XXX. Here too the condemnation of M. Camurtus 
#nd C. Esernus is mentioned. What folly! folly, shall I sav, or 
unparalleled impudence ? Have you the afsurajico, you who 
came from that woman, to make mention of these men? Dare 
you renew the remembrance of so enormous a crime, which is 
only weakened, not extinguished by time? For what was their 
guilt, and upon what accusation were ihey condemned ? Why 
because they were the instruments of this woman's revenge, by 
making a shameful attack upon Vettius. Was it in order to 
have the name of Vettius mentioned in this cause therefore', 
and that old comedy of Afranius revived, that the case of Ca- 
murtus and C. Esernus is brought to our remembrancer who, 
though their crime did not fail under the law in relation to 
violence, were yet so highly criminal that they seemed to be 
condemned by every law. But why is M. Ccblius summoned 
hither, who is neither charged with any crime that can pro- 
perly Fall under this law, nor indeed with any thing that has 
any relation to the law, and is subject to your authority ? His 
early years were devoted to those sciences and that course 
pf study by which we are formed for the bar, for bearing a 

6 



35o M- T. CICER0NI3 ORATIONES. 

wsum forensem, ad capefsendam rempublicam, ad honorem^ 
.gloriam, dignitatem: iis autem fuit amicitiis majorum natu, 
quorum imitari industriam contentiamque maxime velit ; iis 
sequalium studiis, ut eundem, quern optimi ac nobilifsi.mi, per- 
tere cursum laudis videretur. Cum <tutum paullum jam roboris 
accefsifset aetati, in Africam profectus est, (47) Q. Pompeio pro-. 
consuli contubernalis, castifsimo yiro atque omnis officii dili- 
gentifsimo: in qua provincia cum reserant et pofsefsiones pa- 
ternae, turn etiam usus quidam provincialis, non sine causa a 
majoribus buic setati tributus. Discefsit illinc Pompeii judicio 
probatifsimos, ut ipsius testimonio cognoscetis: v.oluit vetere 
instituto, eorum adolescentium ex em plo, qui post in civitate 
snmmi viri et clarifsimi eives exstiterunt, industriam suam a 
populo Romano ex atiqua illustri accusatione cognosci. 

XXXI. Velleni alio potius eum cupiditas glorae detulifset; sed 
abiit hujus tempus querelce. Accusavit C. Antonium, coilegam 
meurn : cui misero praeclari in rempublicam beneficii memoria 
nihil prof tut, nocuit opinio maleticii cogitati. Postea nemini 
concessit aequalium, plus ut in foro, plus ut in negotiis versaretur 
;causisque amicorum, plus ut valer-et inter suos gratia ; quae nisi 
vigilantes homines, nisi sobrii, nisi industrii consequi non pofsunt, 
omnia labore et diligentia est consecutus. (* 8 ) In hoc flexu 
quasi a;tatis (nihil enim occultabo, fretus bumanitate ac sapi- 
entia vestra) fama adolescentis paullum hsesit ad metas notitia 
nova mulieris, et infelici vicinitate, et insolentia voluptatum ; 
<]ua) cum inciusa) diutius, et prima setate comprefsa?, et con- 
strictse fuerunt, subito se nonnunquam profundunt, atque 
cjiciunt universal ; qua ex rita, vel dicam, quo ex sermone, 
nequaquam enim tantum erat, quantum homines loquebantur, 
verum ex eo, quidquit erat, emersit, totumque se ejecit atque 
«xtulit: tantumqueabest ab illius familiaritatis infamia, ut ejus- 
dem nunc ab sese inimicitias odiumque propulset. Atque ut iste 
interpositus sermo deliciarum desidkeque moreretur (fecit, me, 



(47) Q. Pompeio procansuli contubernalis. ~\ This may either signify, that 
Ccelius lived in the same tent with the proconsul, or that he was under 
ius particular care and inspection. I 

(4 8) In hoc ficxu quasi eelatjs fama adolescentis paulum lucsii ad nictas.'] 
This is a beautiful metaphor borrowed from the chariot-races, in which it 
required great art and dexterity to avoid the meta handsomely, in making 
their turns. Now as this turning was* the most difficult part of the race, 
Cicero represents that turn of life betwixt youth and manhood as the most 
critical and dangerous period of it: and indeed veryjusly. Youth, being 
now set free from the shackles of discipline, look abroad into the world 
with rapture, see an elysian region open before them, stored with delight, 
and being distracted by different forms of pleasure, vainly imagine that 
every path will equally lead them to the bowers of blifs. " Keason being 
«ow but a feeble guide*, and pafsiou and fancy the steering principles, no 



CICERO's ORATIONS. 357 

share in the government, and for the attainment of glory, 
honour, and dignity. He cultivated friendship with those who 
were, more advanced in years than himself, but with those only 
whose industry and temperance he was most desirous of imi- 
tating ; and in his intimacy with his equals, he seemed to 
tread the same path of honour with the most worthy and 
illustrious. When he was a little farther advanced in life, he 
went into Africa, and lived in the same tent with the proconsul 
Q. Pompeius ; a man eminent for his integrity, and a strict ob- 
server of every moral duty. In this province, where his father 
had an estate, he acquired tbat provincial experience which 
our ancestors justly considered as necefsary for young gentle- 
men of his age ; and left it highly approved by Pompey, as 
3^011 shall see by the testimony he .gave of him. He was 
desirous of giving the Roman people a proof of his industry, by 
impeaching some considerable person,, according to some ancient 
usage, and in imitation of those young men who afterwards 
arrived at great eminence, and became illustrious citizens. 

Sect. XXXI. I wish his pafsion for glory had led him to 
something else ; but 'tis too late now to complain of that. He 
ajccu&ed my unfortunate colleague, C. Antonius, to whom the 
remembrance of his services to the state was of no avail, and 
the opinion of his having intended its ruin, of great prejudice^ 
None of his equals afterwards surpafsed him in diligence at the 
bar, in the multiplicity of businefs, in managing the causes of 
friends, or in the esteem of relations ; all the advantages which 
can only be obtained by the vigilant, the temperate, and the 
industrious,- he obtained by labour and diligence. In this 
turning of life, as it may be called, (for I wil) conceal notkingv 
as I have the greatest confidence in your goodnefs and wisdom), 
his reputation met with a rub at the very goal, by his acquaint- 
ance with this woman, his unhappy neighbourhood, and his 
not being accustomed to pleasures ; which when they are long 
confined, and, in the early part of life, checked and shackled, 
pour forth sometimes all of a sudden, and throw themselves out 
all at once. He has, however, extricated himself from this life, 
or rather from this report, (for he was far from being what he 
was said to be) ; but whatever it was, he has raised himself 
above it, and is now so far removed from the reproach of her 
intimacy, that he defends himself against her malice and resent- 
ment. And that he might put an end to those reports of his 
sloth and voluptuousnefs, which clouded his reputation, he ac- 
cused a friend of mine of corruption, much against my inclina- 

wonder if launching thus into the ocean of life, confident of the soundnefs 
of their vefsels, with full sails, and without a pilot, they are either be- 
trayed into whirlpools, or dashed against the rocks. 



358 M, T. GICERONIS ORATIONE3. 

meherchule, invito et multum renugaante,- sed tamen fecit) no-* 
men amicimei deambitii detulit : quern absolutum insequitur, re- 
vocat : nemini nostrum obtemperat : est violentior quam vellem. 
Sed ego non loquor de sapient! a, qua^, non cad it in banc <eta- 
tem : de impetu animi loquor de cupiditate vincendi, de ardore 
mentis ad gioriam : quee studia in bis jam aetatibus nostris con- 
tractiora else debent : in adolescentia vera, tan quam in herbis, 
significant, qiuc virtutis maturitas,. et quantac fruges industrial 
sint futuraj. Etenim semper magno ingenio adolescentes re- 
frenandi potius a gloria, quam incitandi fuerunt: amputanda (Jura 
sunt illi jx:tati, siquidem efilorescit iugenii laudibus, quam in- 
serenda. Quare, si cui nimium efferbuifse videtur hujus, vei 
in suseipicnclis, vel in gerendis inimicitiis, vis, ferocitas, perti- 
rucia; samem etiam minimomm horum- aliquid olfendit ; si 
purpura? genus, si amicorum oatervae, si splendor, si nitor ; 
jam ista deferbuerunt ; jam a:tas omnia, jam ista dies naitigaret. 

XXXII. Conservateigitur rcipnblicce, judiccs civem bonarunr 
artium, bonarum partium, bonorum virorum ; prcmitto hoc vc- 
bis, et reipublicae spondeo, si modo nos ipsi reipublica; satisfe- 
cimus, nunquam nunc a nostris ratiembus sejunctum fore; quod 
cum frctus nostra familiaritate promitto, turn quod durifsimisse 
ipse legibus jam obligarit. Neque enim potest, qtri homineni 
consularem, quod ab eo rempublicam violatam dicerct, in judi- 
cium voearit, ipse efse in republica civis turbulentus : non po- 
test, qui ambitu ne absolutum quidem patitur efse absolutum, 
ipse impune unquam efse largitoi . Habct a M. Coeliorespublica, 
judices, dnas accusationes vel obsides periculi, vel pignora vo- 
luntatis. Quare oro, obtestorque vos, judices, ut qua in civitate 
paucis his diebus (^)Sext. Clodius absolutus sit, quern vos per 
biennium aut ministrum seditionis, aut ducem vidistis; quiades 
sacras, qui censum populi Roman i, qui memoriam publicum suis 
manibus incendit, bominem sine re, sine ride, sine spe, sine 
sede, sine fortunis; ore, lingua, manu, vita omni inquinatum ; 
qui Catuii monumentum aiflixit, n.eam domuin diruit, mei 
tratris incendit; qui in palatio atque in urbis oculis scrvhia ad 
CSetiem et iniiammandumurbeinincitavit: in -ca civitate ne pafeia- 



(49) Sexti/s Clcdius absolutus sit.] This is the person of whose violent be- 
kaviftur we hear so much in the oration for Mik>, and that for Cicero'9 
own house. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. % r j9 

tion indeed ; he did it, however, notwithstanding all my en- 
deavours to the contrary: after he was acquitted, lie renewed 
the accusation; he regarded none of us; and has much more 
impetuosity than I could wish. But I don't speak of wisdom, 
■which is seldom to be met with in his years; I speak of the bent 
of his mind, of his paision for distinguishing himself, and his 
ardour for glory : all which, in persons of our age, ought to he 
more moderate ; but in youth, as in vegetables, they only show 
-what is to be expected from their virtue when arrived at hs 
maturity, and what a rich harvest is to spring from their industrv. 
And indeed it has always been more necefsary to cheek ymwg 
rnen of great genius in the career of glory, than spur them on ; 
and at that age much more is to be lopped than ingrafted, as 
its powers are opened and spread out by applause* It Coeiitu 
therefore appears to any to be too impetuous, sanguine 7l ami 
obstinate, either in conceiving or in prosecuting resentment; if 
the meanest of those that are here present are in the least of- 
fended by the purple he wears, the number of his friends, hi* 
splendour and elegance ; these things will quickly subside, a - .» 
and time will soon moderate them ail. 

Sect. XXXII. Preserve therefore to the state, my lords, a 
citizen of virtuous dispositions, of virtuous principles, and of 
virtuous friendships. This I promise to you, and engage for it 
to my country, if I myself have hitherto given satisfaction to 
the state, that his measures shall never be different from mine: 
this I promise, both on account of our intimacy, and because 
he has brought himself under the strongest engagements to per*- 
form it. For it is impofsible that he who impeached a person 
of consular dignity for attempting the ruin of the state, should 
himself be a seditious citizen: it is impofsible that he should 
ever dare to practise the arts of corruption, who accused anothcr 
of practising them, after being once acquitted. The state, my 
lords, has of M. Ccelius two impeachments, as hostages that he 
will never bring her into danger, and as pledges of his affection. 
In a city, therefore, my lords, where within these few days 
Sextus Clodius has been acquitted, whom for two years you have 
seen either the instrument or the leader of sedition ; who, with 
his own hands, has set fire to the temples, the registers, and the 
archives of Rome ; a man without estate, without honour, 
without hope, without a dwelling, without any fortune; whose 
mouth, whose tongue, whose hands, whose whole life is pol- 
luted ; who 'demolished the monument of Catulus, threw down 
my house, and burnt that of my brother; who, in the Palatium^ 
and before the eyes of all Rome, raised the slaves to butcher 
our citizens, and set fire to our city ; lint-feat and conjure you, 
that you would not suffer him to be acquitted in the same city 



360 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATI0NES. 

mini ilium absolutum muliebrie gratia, M. Coelium libidini mu- 
liebri condonatum : ne eadem mulier cum suo conjuge et fratre, 
turpifsimum latronem eripuifse, et honestifsimum adolescentern 
opprefsifse videatur. Quod cum hujus vobis adolescentiam pro- 
posueritis, ( 50 ) constituitote vobis ante oculos hujus etiam miseri 
senectutem, qui hoc unico filio nititur, in hujus spe requiescit, 
hujus unius casum pertimescit : quern vos supplicem vestra? 
misericordioe, servum potestatis, abjectum non tarn ad pedes, 
quam ad mores sensusque vestros, vel recordatione parentum 
vestrorum, vel liberorum jucunditate sustentate : ut in alterius 
dolore, vel pietati, vel indulgentia; vestrag serviatis. Nolite, 
judices, aut hunc jam natura ipsa occidentem velle maturiiis ex- 
stingui vulnere vestro, quam suo fato : aut hunc nunc primuni 
florescentem firmata jam stirpe virtutis-, tanquam turbine aliquo 
aut subita tempestate pervetere. Conservate parenti filium, 
parentem filio, ne aut senectutem jam prope desperatam con- 
tempsifse, aut adolescentiam plenam spei maximas non modo 
non aluifse vos, sed etiam perculifse atque aiflixifse videamini. 
Quern si vobis, si suis, si reipublicse conservatis, addictum, ob- 
strictum vobis ac liberis vestris habeditis: omniumque hujus 
nervorum ac laborum vos potifsimum, judices, fructus uberes 
diuturnosque capietis. 



(50) Constituitote vobis ante oculos hujus etiam miseri senectutem.'] Scarce 
any thing can be of greater efficacy \o melt the mind into tepdernefs and 
companion, than the sight of old age overwhelmed with sorrow and afflic- 
tion ; this circumstance, therefore, wrought up with so much beauty by 
one who was master of all the powers of eloquence, and knew well all the 
avenues to the human heart, could not fail of imprefsing the judges with 
favourable dispositions to Cceiius, who accordingly was acquittedT 



361 

through the interest, and M. Codius to be sacrificed to the lusts 
of a woman ; lest the same person with her husband, I mean 
her brother, should seem to have saved a most infamous robber, 
and ruined a young man of the greatest worth. And when 
you have considered die youth of Ccelius, place before your 
eyes the old age of this his wretched father, who has no other 
support but this only son ; who founds all his hopes upon him, 
and has no fears but upon his account. If your hearts were 
ever touched with pious sentiments to parents, or with tender 
affection to children, support him, here prostrate before you; 
not so much to testify his respect, as to move your compafsion ; 
t bat the sorrows of both may excite in you every emotion of 
filial piety and paternal fondnefs. Let not the one, my lords, 
who is already sinking into the grave by the weight of years, 
be cut off by your severity, sooner than by the stroke of nature ; 
nor the other, now that his virtues have taken deep root, and 
just begun to blofsom, be thrown down as it were by some 
violent blast or sudden tempest. Preserve the son to the father, 
the father to the son, that you may not appear to have despised 
an old man almost destitute of every hope; and not only to 
have refused cherishing a youth of the greatest hopes, but even 
to have depreised and ruined him. By preserving him to your- 
selves, to his friends, to his country, you will find you will 
attach and consecrate him to you and your children ; and you, 
my lords, will reap the fairest and most lasting fruits of all his 
abilities, and of atl his toils, 



A* 



ORATIO XL 



IN L. CALPURNIUM PISONEM* 



I. (') TiVMNE vides, bellua, janme sentis, quae sit hominurn 
J querela frontis tint? ( 2 ) Nemo queritur Syrum, nescio 
quern, de grege novhiorran, factum else consulem ; non enim. 
210s color iste servilis, non pilosac genae, non denfces putridi 
decepeiunt : oculi, snpercilia, frons, vultus denique tofcus, 
qui senno quidara tacitus mentis est* hie in errorem homines 
impuUt: hie eos, quibus eras ignotusj deeepit, fefellit, in 
fraudem indux.it. Fauci ista tua lutulenta vitia -noveramus • 
pauci tarditatem ingenii, stuporem debilitatemque linguae ; 
nunquam erat audita vox in foro : nunquam periculum factum 
consilii ; nullum non modo illustre, sed ne notum quidem fac- 
tum, autmilitioj, autdomi ', obrepsistiad honores errore hominum, 
(?) commendatione rmnosarum imaginum : quavum simile 
habes nihil prater colorem. Is mihi etiam gleriabitur, se om- 



* L. Calpurnius Piso was consul with Gabinius in the year of Rome 
695 ; thev were both the profefsed enemies of Cicero, and concurred with 
Clodius m those violent measures which terminated in his banishment. 
Upon the expiration of his consulship, Piso went to his government of 
Macedonia, where his administration was extremely inglorious; he op- 
prefsed the subjects, plundered the allien, and lost the best part of h>s 
troops against, the neighbouring Barbarians, who invaded and laid waste 
the country,, Cicero, alter his return from exile, neglected no opportu- 
nity of being revenged ; upon occasion of a debate in the senate about 
the consular provinces, he exerted all Ins authority to get him recalled 
-with some marks of disgrace, and accordingly the senate decreed his re- 
vocation; when he arrived at Rome, he entered th« city, obscurely i 
jgnominiously, without any other attendance than his own retinue. On 
Ins first appearance in public, trusting to the authority of Casar, who was 
his son-in-law, he had the hardineis to attack Cicero, and complain to 
the senate of his injurious treatment of him. Cicero, provoked by his 
:rnpucjent attack, replied to him upon Che spot in the following oration, 
which is a severe invective upon his whole life and ton ' 4f i ; and which, 
if invectives are to be considered as faithful memoirs, mu>t transmit to all 
posterity the most detectable character of him. 

(1) Janme vides, bellua.'] The beginning of this- oration is lost, excepting 
a few fragments preserved by Aseouius. 

(-2) Acw.i) querilor Syrum, uescio qvtm,"\ By Syrum is here meant, a 
stave; lor ir^as usual ,to call slaves by the game of the country frcui 



ORATION XL 



AGAINST PISO. 



Sect. I. T~\OST thou not now see, blockhead, dost thou not 
jL/ now perceive what complaints are made of thy 
impudence? No one complains that an obscure Syrian, from 
amongst a crowd of new-bought slaves, is made consul ; for his 
dark complexion, his hairy cheeks, and rotten teeth, would 
riot allow of any imposition; but here men have been deceived 
by those eyes, by those brows, by that forehead ; in a word, 
by that whole visage^ which is a kind of silent language of the 
heart : these have misled, abused, and imposed upon those 
who were strangers to them. There were few of us who knew 
your filthy vices, few who were acqainted with your dulnefs, 
■with the stupidity and feeblenefs of your tongue. Your voice 
was never heard in the forum, nor your opinion in the senate: 
never was you illustriousj nor even known, for any action either 
in peace or war; you have crept into honours by the mistake 
of mankind, without any thing to recommend you but smoky 
images, which you resemble in nothing but their colour. v And 
shall he vainly boast even to me, that he has obtained the high- 
est offices of the state without repulse ? This I indeed may be 
allowed to say of myself with true glory, on whom, though but a 
iiew man, the Roman people have bestowed all their honours. 



whence they came. Some commentators have indeed imagined that 
Gabmius, who had Syria for his province, is pointed at; but there seems 
to be little reason for such an imagination. 

(3) Commend at tone fumor.arum imaginum ] The right of using pictures 
or statues at Rome, was only allowed to such whose ancestors, or them- 
selves, had borne some curule office, that is, had been curuleaedile, censor, 
prastor, r consul. He .that had the pictures or statues of his ancestors, 
was called ?iobilis: he that had only his own, novus; he that had neither, 
igrtobilis* It was usual for the Romans, as Cicero informs us in his book 
of Offices, to burn frankincense and wax-lights before them upon the diti 
Jest;; whence probably they are her*, called fumoste ; 

A a 2 



364? M- T. C1CER0NIS ORATIONES. 

nes macnstratus sine repulsa afsecutum ? mihi ista licet de mz 
vera cum gloria pypedieare ; omnes enim honores popukis Ro- 
maivus mihiipsi homini novo, detu-lit. iSiarn tu cum quaestor es- 
factus, etiatfi qui le numquam viderant, ( 4 ) tamen ilium hono- 
rern nomihi mandabant tuo.< ./Edilis es factus : Piso est a populo 
Romano factus, non iste Piso. Praetura item majoribus delata 
est tuis ; notr erant illi mortmi: te vivum nondum noverat 
qnisquani. Me cum (*} qusestorurn in primis, sdilem priorem, 
praitorei'n primum cunctis sufrragiis poprvlus Roman us faeiebat,. 
homini ille honorem, non generi ; rnoribus, non majoribus meis * 
virtuti perspecta?, non audita? nobilitati, deferebat.. Nam quid 
e^o de consulatu loq.uor ? parto vis^ anne gesto ? Miserum me I 
ettm hac me nunc peste, atque labe confero I sed nihil compa- 
rand! causa ioquar j ac tamen ea quae stmt longifsime disjuncta 
comprehendam. Tu consul es renunciatus (nihil dieam gravius, 
qiiam. quod omnes fatentur) impedifeis reipublierje temporibus r 
dii'sidentibus cofs. Caesare et Bibulo, cum hoc non recusares,. 
cjuln li, a quibu? dicebare consul, te luce dignum non putarent r 
nisi nequior, quam Gabinius, exstitifses; me cuncta Italia, me 
omnes ordines, me universa civitas, non prius tabella quam 
voce, priorem consulem declaravit. 

II, Sed omitto, ut sit factus uterque nostrum ; sit sane fors 
dornina campi ; magnificentius est dicere, quemadmodum ges- 
serimus consulatum, quam quemadmodum ceperimus. Ego ka- 
lendis Januar: senatum et bonos omnes le<iis auraria? maxima- 
rumque largitionum metu liberavi. Ego agrum Campanum,. 
( 6 ) si dividi non oportuit, conservavi; si oportuit, melioribus 
aiietonbns reservavi. Ego in €. Rabirio, perduellionis reo ( 7 ) 
>vL annis ante me consulem interpositam senatus auctoritatcm 
sustiimi contra "invidiam, atque defendi. (*) Ego adolescentes- 
bonos et fortes, sed usos ea conditione fortunae, ut, si elsent lila- 
cs Tamen ilium honor em nomini viand abant tuo.~] Cicero reproaches Piso- 
with being indebted for his advancement, not to personal merit, but to his 
name. He was descended indeed from one of the most illustrious families 
in Home, that of Piso Frugi, who had done many and distinguished ser- 
vices to- the Somali state. Our orator makes very honourable mention of 
him in his oration for Fonteius. 

(5) Quastoi em imprimis.'} Cicero obtained the q^asstorship in the first year 
in which he was capable of it by law, the thirty-first of his age; and was chosen 
the first of all his competitors "by the unanimous suffrages" of the tribes. 

(6) Si dv:idi non oportuit, si oportuit,'] Our orator probably makes this 
distinction for fear of giving offence to Csesar, who in his consulship had 
carried an Agrarian law bv violence, for distributing the lands of Campania 
to twenty thousand poor citizens, who had each three children or more. 

(7) XL an?ds ante me consulem.'] In this,- as in several other pafsages of 
his orations, Cicero is not scrupulously exact in his computations of "time; 
for from the death of Saturninus to his consulship, there were only thirty- 
f ve years: so that he must be understood as if he had said, almost forty years. 

(8) Ego addcsce?ites bonos et fortes.] What Cicero here refers to, was this. 
Sylla had by an exprefs law excluded the children of the proscribed from 
the senate and all public honours. The persons injured by this tyrannical 



365 

When you was made quaestor, even those who haci, never seen 
you, conferred that honour upon your name. You was made 
aedile ; but it was a Piso who was then chosen by the Roman 
people, and not that Piso. It was on your ancestors too that 
the pnetorship was bestowed ; these illustrious dead were known 
to every body; but you, though alive b was known by none. 
But when the Roman people, by their unanimous suffrages; 
made me quaestor, tedile, and praetor, the first or' all my com- 
petitors, they bestowed those honours upon Cicero, not upon 
bis family; upon his manners, not upon his ancestors ; upon 
his virtue which they had seen, and not upon his nobility they 
bad heard of. What shall I say of my consulship ?' Shall I 
show how I obtained it, or how I exercised it? To what a mi- 
serable situation am I now reduced, to compare myself with 
that reproach, that plague of his country! but I will say nothing', 
by way of comparison, and yet I will join things widely diffei- 
•ent from each other. You was declared consul, to say nothing 
more than what is universally confefsed, at a difficult period of 
the state, while the consuls Caesar and Bibulus were at variance ; 
and you yourself cannot deny that those who declared you 
■consul, would have deemed you unworthy of the light, if you 
bad not surpafsed Gabinius in wiekednefs. But I was declared 
the first consul by the suffrages and acclamations of all Italy, of 
all orders of men, and of the whole state. 

Sect. II. I shall not mention the manner,. however, in which 
each of us was made consul, let chance be supposed to have 
presided in the field of election : it is more glorious to relate 
how we conducted ourselves in the consulship, than how we 
obtained it. On the first of January I delivered the senate, 
and every worthy Roman, from the terror of the Agrarian Jaw, 
and that of boundlefs corruption. J preserved the Cam pan i an 
lands, if it was not proper they should be divided, if it -was, I 
reserved that employment for those that were better qualified to 
discharge it. In my pleading for C. Rabirius, who was accused 
of treason, for having killed Saturninus, forty years before my 
consulship, I supported and defended the authority of the senate 
when attacked by envy. I excluded from honours a number of 
brave and worthy young men, but thrown by fortune into so mi- 
act, being many, .and of great families, used all their interest to get it re- 
versed. Cicero was of opinion, that their petition was, from the condi- 
tion of the times, highly unseasonable however eqctitable ; since it was natu- 
ral to suppose, that'the first use an opprefsed party would make of the reco- 
very of their power, would be to revenge themselves on their opprefsors. 
Accordingly he made it his businefs- to prevent that inconvenience, aud 
■found means to persuade those unfortunate men, that to bear their injury 
was their benefit; and that the government itself, could not stand, if 
Sylla's laws were then repealed, on which the quiet and order of the re- 
public were established. Mr. Guthrie, in a note upon this pafsage, fails 

A a 3 



366 M. T. GICE5L0NIS ORATIONES. 

gistratus adepti, reipub. statum convulsuri viderentur, meis ini- 
micitiis, nullj. senatds mala gratia, comitiorum ratione privavi ; 
ego Antoniumcollegam,cupidum provincioe, multain republics, 
molientem, patientia atque obsequio nieo niitigavi. Ego pro- 
vineiam Galliam senatus auctoritate, exercitu et pecunia in- 
structam et ornatam, quam cum Antonio communicavi, quod ita 
existimabam tempora reipubl. ferre, in concione deposui, recla- 
mante populo Romano. Ego L. Catilinam, c&dem senatus, inte- 
ritum urbis, non obscure, sed palam molientem, egredi ex urbe 
jufsi: ut a quo legibus non pqteramiis, moenibus tuti efse poise- 
mus. Ego tela extremo mense consulates mei intenta jugulis ci- 
vitatis de conjuratorum nefariis manibus extorsi. Ego faces jam. 
accenses adhujus urbis incendiumcomprehendi , protuli , exstinxi. 
III. Me Q. Catulus princeps hujus or dims, et auctor publici 
consilii, frequentifsimo senatu, parentem patriae nominavit. 
Mihi hie vir clarifsimus, qui propter te sedet, L. Gellius, his 
audientibus, civicam coronam deberi a repub. dixit. Mihi 
togato senatus, non, ut multus, bene gesta?-, sed ut nemini, con- 
servatai reipublicae, singulari genere^supplicationis, deorum im- 
mortalium templa patefecit. (9) Ego cum in concione, abiens 
magistrate, dicere a. tribuno plebis prohiberer, quae constitue- 
ram ; cumque is mihi tantummodo ut jurarem, permitterit ; 
sine ulla dubitatione juravi, rempubl. atque hanc urbem mea 
linhis opera efse salvam. Mihi populus Romanus universus, ilia 
in concione, non unius diei gratulationem, sed aeternitatem irn- 
mortalitatemque donavit, cum meum jusjurandum tale atque tan- 
turn, jurat us ipse, una voce et consensu approbavit- Quo quidem 
tempore is meus dounum fuit e foro reditus, ut nemo, nisi qui me- 
cum efset, civium else in numero videt etur. Atque ita est a me con- 
Mtlatus peractus, ut nihil sine consilio senatus, nihil non appro- 
bante populo Romano egerim : ut semper in rfo'stris curiam, in 
&enatu popuium defenderim : ut multitudinciii cum principibus, 



foul upon Cicero, whose conduct, en this occasion, he ?ays, ^\as both im- 
politic and unjust, and the apology he make? for it, a sneaking one. But 
the ingenious and learned Dr. MtckUeton with more judgment observes, 
that he acted the part of a wise statesman, who is often forced to tolerate, 
and even maintain what he cannot approve, *>r the sake of the common 
good; agreeably to what he lays down in his book of Offices, that 7nc.n1/ 
t/iings zi-hzch are naturally right and just, arc yet by certain circumstances 
and conjunctures qf times, made dishonest and unjust. 

(9) Ego cum in concione, abiens magitsratu, dicere a tribuno plebis pro- 
hiberer, qua: const ituerem.'] It was usual to resign the consulship in an 
afsembly'of the people, and to take an oath of having discharged it ui'k 
fidelity.' This was generally accompanied with a speech from the expiring 
cpnsul; and after such a year, and from such a speaker, the city was in 
no small expectation of what Cicero would say to them? but Metellus, 
one of the new tribunes, who generally opened their magistracy by some 
i-emavkable act, as a specimen of the measures they intended to pursue, 
disappointed both the orator and the audier.ee: "for when Cicero hatj 



CICERO*S ORATIONS, 367 

serabje a situation, that it" they had obtained power, they 
would probably have employed it to the ruin of the state ; and 
this by- rendering myself only obnoxious, without Bringing the 
senate under any odium. By my patience and complaisance I 
softened my colleague Antony, who was desirous of a pro- 
vince, and was meditating many things against the statu. In a 
public afsembly, contrary to the inclination of the Roman 
people, I resigned the province of Gaul; which, by the se- 
nate's order, was well furnished with money and troops; and 
exchanged it with Antony, because, I thought, the situation 
of the state required it. L. Catiline, who was projecting the 
murder of the senate, and the destruction of Rome, not se- 
cretly but openly, I ordered to leave the city ; that, as our 
laws would not defend us from him, our Avails might. In the 
last month of my consulship, I wrested from the wicked hands 
of conspirators, the swords which they aimed at the throats of 
my fellow-citizens. I seized, produced, and extinguished the 
torches that were lighted up to set fire to the city. 

Sect. III. Q.. Catulus, prince of the senate, and the guide 
of public deliberations, in a full house, declared me the father 
of my country. L. Gellius, that illustrious senator who sits 
near you, said in the hearing of this afsembly, that a civic 
crown was due tq me from the republic. The senate, by an 
extraordinary kind of supplication, opened the temples of the 
immortal gods to me in my robes of peace, not for having done 
service to the state, which had been the case of many, but for 
having saved it from ruin, which had happened to none, Upon, 
the expiration of my office, when a tribune of the people hin- 
dered me from saying publicly wiiat I intended, and would only 
allow me to take the oath, I swore without any hesitation, that 
I alone had preserved the commonwealth and this city from de- 
struction. The whole Roman people upon that occasion be- 
stowed upon me, not the acclamations of a day, but an eternity 
and immortality of applause ; for with one voice, and with one 
conseqt, they confirmed this my solemn and impor tant oath, and 
swore themselves that "what I said was true: after which my 
return from the forum to my own house was such, that none 
but these who attended me seemed to be Romans. Such indeed 
was my conduct during the whole of my consulship, that J did 
nothing without the advice of the senate, nothing without the 
approbation of the Roman people. From the rostra I always 



mounted the Rostra, and was ready to perform this last act of his office, 
he would not suffer him to speak, or do any thing more than barely take 
the oath ; declaring, that he who had put citizens ta death unheard, ou^hi 
not to be permitted to speak fur himself. 

Aa4 



36§ M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

equestrem ordinem cum senatu conjunxerim. Exposui bre- 
viter consulatum meum. 

IV. Aude nunc, 6 furia, de tuo dicere: cujus fuit initium ( ,c ) 
ludi Compitalitii, turn primumfacti post L. Metellum et Q,. Mar- 
cium cofs. contra auctoritatem hujus ordinis : quos Q. Metellus 
(facio injuriam fortifsimo viro mortuo, qui ilium, cujus, paucos 
pares hasc civitas tulit, cum hac importuna bellua conferam) sed 
ille designatus consul, cum quidem tribunus pleb. suo auxilio 
magistros, ludos contra senatusconsultum facere jufsifset, pri- 
vatus fieri vetuit: atque id, quodnondum potestate poterat, ob- 
tinuit auetoritate. Tu, cum, in kalendis Jan, Compitaliorum 
dies incidifset, Sex. Clodium, qui nunquam antea praetextatus 
fuifset, ludos facere, et praetextatum volitare pafsus es, bomi- 
jiem impurum, atque non modo facie, sed etiam oculo tuo 
dignifsimum. Ergo- bis fundamentis positis consulates tui, tri- 
duo post, inspectante et tacente te, a P. Clodio, fatali por- 
tentb prodigioque reipublicse, lex vElia et Fusia eversa est, 
propugnacula murique tranquillitatis atque otii. Collegia non 
ea solum, qua? senatus fustulerat, restituta sunt, sed innumera- 
bilia quoedam nova ex omni faece urbis ac servitio constitute, 
Ab eodem homine in stupris inauditis nefariisque versato, ve- 
tus ilia magistra pudoris et modestias, severitas censoria sublata 
est : cum tu interim, bustum reipubl. qui te consulem turn Ro- 
mae dicis fuifse, verbo nunquam significaris sententiam tuam 
tantis in naufragiis civitatis. 

V. Nondum quae feceris, sed quae fieri pafsus sis, dico : neque 
vero multum interest, praesertim in consule, utrum ipse perni- 
ciosis legibus, improbis concionibus rempubl. vexet, an alios 
vexare patiatur. An potest ulla efse excusatio, non dicam male 
sentienti, sed sedenti, cunctanti, dormienti in maxim o reipub. 
motu consuli ? centum prope annos legem iEIiam et Fusiam te- 
nueramus : quadringentos judicium, notionemque censoriam ; 
quas leges ausus est non nemo improbus, potuit quidem nemo 
unquam, convellere: quam potestatem minuere, quominus de 
moribus nostris quinto quoque anno judicaretur, nemo tarn ef- 
fuse petulans coriatus est. Hare sunt, 6 carnifex, in gremio se- 
pulta consulates tui. Persequere connexos his funeribus dies. 



(10) Ludi Compitalitii.~] The Ludi Compitalitii were so called from the 
Compita, or crofs-lanes, where they were instituted and celebrated by the 
rude multitude that was got together, before the building of Home: "after 
having been laid down for many years, they were revived, and held during 
the Gompitafia, or feasts of the lares, who presided as well over streets as 
houses. We arc told by .Suetonius, that Augustus ordered the Lares to be 
crowned twice a year at the Compitalitian games, with spring ilowers. Tills 
crowning the household gods, and offering sacrifices up and down in the 
Streets, ma,tfe the greatest part of the solemnity of the feast. 



369 

defended the cause of the senate, and in the senate that of the 
people; the lower sort of the people I united with the higher, 
and the equestrian with the senatorial! order. Thus have I 
briefly laid open my consulship. 

Sect IV. If thou darest now, detestable fury ! speak of 
thine, which was begun with the. Compitalitian games, then 
first exhibited since the consulship of L. Meted us and Q. "Mir- 
cius, against the authority of this order. Q. Meteilus, when 
consul elect, (but I do an injury to the memory of that brave 
man, who has had few equals in this state, when I compare 
him with this worthlefs being), forbade, as a private person, 
these games to be celebrated ; though a tribune of the people, 
in opposition to a decree of the senate, had ordered it; and 
thus effected by his credit, what lie could not as, yet have 
done by his power. These games falling upon the first of Ja- 
nuary, you suffered Sex. Clodius, that beastly .fellow,, and 
highly worthy of your countenance and friendship, "to celebrate, 
them, and to flutter about in his purple-bordered robe, though 
till then he had never wore it. Having thus laid the foundation 
of your consulship, three days after, the iElian and Fusian 
laws, those walls and bulwarks of the public peace and tranquil- 
lity, were abolished by P. Clodius, that pernicious monster to 
the state, whilst you looked silently on. Those fraternities 
which the senate destroyed, were not only restored, but num- 
berlefs new ones were raised, consisting of slaves, and the 
very dregs of the city. The same Clodius, who abandoned 
himself to the most horrible and unheard-of acts of lewdnefs 
and debauchery, abolished the severity of the censorship, that 
antient directrefs of manners and modesty ; whilst you, the 
sepulchre of the state, who tell us that you was then consul at 
Rome, never opened your mouth amidst the so great desola- 
tion of your country. 

Sect. V. I have hitherto mentioned not what you did, but 
only what you suffered to be done ; though indeed there is 
little difference, especially in a consul, whether he himself har- 
rafses the state by pernicious laws and wicked cabals, or allows 
others to do it. Can any excuse be made, I shall not say for 
a difsaffected consul, but for one who sits still, who loiters and 
sleeps during the greatest commotions of the state ? The JElian 
and Fusian laws we had observed almost for an hundred years, 
and the jurisdiction of the censors had subsisted four hundred: 
these laws one wretch endeavoured, but no man was ever able 
to shake ; as to the jurisdiction of the censors, no person ever 
arrived at such a pitch of audaciousnefs as to endeavour to 
lefsen it, and prevent our manners from being brought under 
their cognizance every fifth year. All these, thou executioner of 
the laws, were buried in the bosom of thy consulship. Go on, 
and inform us of svhat happened immediately after this desolation 



270 M. T. CTCERONIS ORATIQNES. 

Pro Aurelio tribunali, ne connivente quidem te, quod ipsum 
eiset seel us, seel etiara hiiarioribus oculis, quam solitus eras, in- 
tuente, delectus servorum habebatur ab eo, qui nihil sibi un- 
quam nee r'aecre, nee pati turpe efseduxit ; (") arma in templo 
Castoris, 6 proditor templorum omnium ! vidente te, constitue- 
bantur ab eo latrone, cui templum illud fuit, te consule, arx d* 
vium perditoruui, reeeptacalum veterum Catilinae militum, 
castellum fovensis iatrocinii, bustum leg um omnium ac religio- 
runn. Erat non solum domusmea, sed totum Palatium senatu, 
equitibus Roman is-, civitate omni, Italia cuncta refertum: cum 
tu non modo.ad eum Cieeronem (mitto enim .domestica, qua; 
negari pofsunt : hsec commemoro, quae sunt palam), non modo, 
iiujuam, ad eum, cui primam commitiis tuis dederas tabulam 
prahrogatiyae, quern in senatu sententiam rogabas tertium, nun- 
qiuim aspinisri : sed omnibus consiliis, quae ad me opprimen- 
(juin parabantur, non interiuisti solum, veriim etiam crudeiii- 
snne praiuisti. 

VI. Mihi vero ipsi ( I2 ) coram genero meo, propinquo tuo, 
quae dicere ausus es ? egere, foris else Gibinium: sine pro- 
vincial stare non pofse: spem habere a tribune plebis, si tua 
consilia cum illo conjunxifses ; a senatu quidem desperate : 
hujus te cupiditati obsecjui, sicuti ego i'eciisem in college meo: 
nihil else quod presidium consulum implorarem : sibi quemque 
consulere oportere. Atque hire dicere vix audeo : vereor ne 
qui sit, qui otitis insignem nequitiam, frontis involutam in in- 
tegumentis, nondum cernat ; dicam tamen : ipse certe ag- 
noscet, et eum aliquo dolore flagitiormn suorum recordabitur. 
Meminibti-ne, aenum, cum ad te quinta i'ere horfi cum C. Pi- 
. sone veniisem, nescio quo § gurgustio te prodire, involuto ca- 
pita, soleatum? et, cum isto ore fcctido tetorrimam nobis po- 
pinam inhiai'ses, excusatione te uti valetudiuis, quod diceres, 
vinolentis te quibusdam medicaminibus solere cururi ? quam 
uos causam cum accepiisemus (quid enim facere poteranius?) 



(i 1) Arma in fi'mplo CWer/.v.] This templo was built by An! US Posthu- 
raius upon his victory over the Latins, about the year of Rome 258; in 
consequence of a fabulous story, which we lind related by Dionysius 
of Halicarnafsus. Two young horsemen, 'tis said, of an extraordinary 
and majestic stature, appeared to Posthumius during the battle of Regillus, 
ami fought for the Romans. ' In the evening, after the battle, they ap- 
peared at Rome in the forum, and after having told the crowd of citizens 
who surrounded them, the first news of the victory, they disappeared. 
The next morning the magistrates receiving letters from Posthumius, 
which among other circumstances of the battle, mentioned the sudden, 
appearance of the two young horsemen who fought for the Romans ; it 
Was concluded they were the same who had brought the news to Koine, 
and that they could be no other than Castor and Pollux: This fabulous 
story was believed among the Romans, and transmitted to posterity by 
public monuments, which were still subsisting in the time of Dionysius. 

(12) Coram gettero meo.'] This was C. Piso Frugi, on whom Cicero be- 
ttovB a very high character) and tolls us, that for probity, virtue, ma- 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. >37l 

.of tlis state. Before the Aurelian tribunal, a levy of. slaves was 
made by one who never thought any thing too infamous either 
to do or suffer, whilst you cjid not affect indeed to look on with 
indifference, though even this would have been a crime, but 
Beheld it with unuiual pleafure. Before thy eyes 9 thou #bp 
hast violated all the temples, arms were placed in the temple of 
,Castor by that robber, who used it as a citadel for abandoned 
citizens, as a receptable for Catiline's veterans, as the strong 
hold of civil robbeiy, as the sepulchre of all laws, and of every 
thing sacred. Not only ply houfe,but the whole Paiatium was 
liiied with senators, with Roman knights, with the citizens of 
Home, arid the inhabitants of all Italy ; whilst you, (for I pais 
by domestic transactions, which may be denied, and coniinc 
myself to those that are publicly known) whilst you, I say, not 
only never afsisted that Cicero, whom., at your election, you 
employed to preside over the votes qf the leading century, and 
who was the third whose opinion you asked in the senate ; but. 
whenever any scheme was formed for my destruction, you was 
present, nay you cruelly presided. 

Sect. VI. But what was it you had the impudence to say to 
myself, before my son-in-law, your own kinsman ? that Gibi- 
nius was so very poor that he w r as not able to show his head ; 
that it was impofsible for him to subsist without a province ; that 
he had some hopes of one from a tribune of the people, if he 
and you were to join interests, but that he despaired of any- 
thing from the senate ; that you humoured him as I had done 
my colleague ; that it signified nothing to implore the help of 
the consuls; and that every man ought to look to himself. And 
here there are some tilings I scarce dare mention. I am afraid 
lest there should be any who do not yet perceive the excefsive 
wickednefs .which is concealed under the folds of that fellow's 
forehead: I will mention them however. He himself will cer- 
tainly acknowledge them, and the recollection of his crimes will 
be attended with some pangs of remorse. Host thou not re- 
member, thou lilthy wretch! how that, when C. Piso and I 
went to you almost at mid-day, we found you coming out from 
a little hovel, with your sandals on your feet, and your head 
rnurHed up ; and when you had almost overwhelmed us with 
a foetid steam poured rprth from your stinking mouth, how yq.ti 
excused yourself on account of your bad health, and alleged that 
you made use of vinous medicines ? After this apology, we re- 
mained a little (for what could .we do ?) amidst the stench and 
smoke of your filthy hovel, whence you forced us away by your 



desty, and every accomplishment of a fine gentleman and fine sneak'.'] 
he scarce had his equal among ail the voimg noblemen of Rome. 

6 



3t2 M- T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

paullisper stetimus in illo ganearum tuarum nidore atque fumo : 
unde tu noscum improbifsime respondendo, turn turpifsime eruc- 
tando ejecisti. Idem illo fere biduo productus in concionem ab 
eo, cui sic aequatum praebebas consulatum tuum, cum efses in- 
terrogatus, quid sentires de consulatu meo ; gravis auctor, 
Calattnus credo aliquis, aut Africanus, aut Maximas, et non 
Caesonius (") Semi-placentinus Calventius, respondes, alteroad 
frontem sublato, altero ad mentum deprefso supercilio, crude- 
litatem tibi non placere. 

VII. Hie te ille homo dignifsimus tuis laudibus collaudavit. 
Crudeljtatis tu, furcifer, senatum consul in concione condemnas? 
non enim me, qui senatui parui ; nam delatio ilia salutaris et 
diligens fuerat consul is : animadversio quidem et judicium sena- 
tes; quae cum reprehendis, ostendis, qualis tu, si ita forte ae- 
cidefset, fueris illo tempore consul futurus ; stipendio, nieher- 
cule, et frumento Catilinam else putafses juvandum ; quid enim 
interfuit inter Catilinam, et eum, cui tu senatus auctoritatem, 
salutem civitatas, totam rempub. provincae praemio vendidisti? 
Quae enim L. Catilinam conantem consul prohibui, ea P. Clo- 
dium facientem consules adjuverunt ; voluit ille senatum inter- 
ficere, vos sustulistis; leges incendere, vos abrogastis: interire 
patriam, vos adjuvistis. Quid est vobis cofs. gestum sine armis? 
incendere ilia conjuratorum manus voluit urbem ; vos ejus do* 
mum, quern propter urbs incensa non est. Ac ne illi quidem, 
si habuiisent vestn similem consulem, de urbis incendio cogitas- 
sent; non enim se tectis privare voluerunt: sed his stanti- 
bus nullum domicilium sceleri suo fore putaverunt; radem 
illi civium, vos servitutem expetistis. His vos etiam crude- 
Iiores ; nuic enim populo ita fuerat ante vos cofs. libertas 
irisita, ut emori potius quam servire prastaret. Illud veip 
geminum consiHis Catilinae et Lentuli, quod me donio mea 
expuiistis, Cn. Pompeium domum suam compulistis ; neque 
enim, me stante et manente in urbis vigilia, neque resistente 
Cn. Pompeio omnium gentium victore, uuquam >e illi rempub- 
licam delere poise duxurunt ; a me quidem etiam pcenas expel 
tis,quibus conjuratorum manes mortuorum cxpiaretis ; omne odi- 
um inclusum nerariis sensibus impiorumin me profudistis i quo- 
rum ego forori nisi cefeifsem,inCktUin8e busto,vobis ducibus,mac- 
tatus el'sem. Quod autem majua indicium exspectatis, nihil inter 
vos et Catilinam interfuifse, quam quod eandem illam nianum ex 



(13) Semi-plactnfinus.) Piso is here called Semi-placentinus, because his 
mother was of i'lacentia. 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. 373 

low answers, and infamous belchings. About two days after, 
being brought into an afsembly by him with whom you had 
shared your consular authority, when you was asked what you 
thought of my consulship, with an air of gravity, like a Calatinus, 
an Africanus, orMaximus, and not like a half Placentian, sprung 
from Csesonius and Calventius, having one brow screwed up to 
your forehead, and another hanging down to your chin, you 
replied, that my cruelty did wt please you. 

Sect. VII. Here you was applauded by him who is highly 
worthy of celebrating your praises. Dost thou; villain! dost 
thou, a consul, charge the senate with cruelty in a full afsembly ? 
As for me, I have no share in the charge ; for I only obeyed 
the senate. To give salutary and diligent information belonged 
to me as a consul, but to bring to a trial and to punish belonged 
to them as a senate ;.Jay blaming which, you plainly show what 
you would have done, had you been consul at that time. I 
make no question but you would have given it as your opinion, 
that Catiline should be supplied with money and provisions; 
for where was the difference between Catiline and him with 
whom you bartered the authority of the senate, the safety of 
Rome, and the whole commonwealth, for a province? For 
P. Clodius was afsisted by the consuls in doing those things, in 
which I, as a consul, obstructed the attempts of Catiline. He 
wanted to murder the senate, you have taken away their autho- 
rity ; he wanted to burn the laws, you have abrogated them \ 
he wanted to destroy his country, and you have seconded his 
impious attempt. What was done during your consulship with- 
out arms? That band of conspirators wanted to set fire to the 
city, you to the house of him who prevented them. But had 
I been a consul like you, even they would never have enter- 
tained a thought of burning the city, for they would not have 
cared to destroy their own houses ; but whilst such senators 
remained, they imagined they could have no sanctuary for their 
crimes. Their aim was to murder their fellow-citizens, your's 
to enslave them. In this, your cruelty was 'greater than theirs : 
for before your consulship, so ardent was the love of liberty in 
the breast of every Roman, that they would have preferred 
death to slavery. It was in imitation of the conduct of Catiline 
and Lentulus that you drove me from my house, and confined 
Pompey to his ; for they never imagined they could destroy the 
state, whilst I was safe, and continued in the city as its w r atchman ; 
and whilst Pompey, the conqueror of all nations, opposed them. 
You required my blood to satisfy the manes of the conspirators, 
and poured forth upon me all the odium that lay. concealed in 
the breasts of the enemies of their country; to whose fury if I 
had not yielded, I had, under such leaders as you, been sacri- 
ficed upon the tomb of Catiline.. But w r hat stronger proof can 
2 



374 M> T. CICERONIS" OS.ATIONES/ 

intermortuis Catilinae reliquiis cohcitastis ? quod prime's undique 
perditos collegistis ? quod in me carcerem ertiidistis ? quod con- 
juratos avmastis? quod eorurn ferro ae fur or i meum corpus, 
atone omnium bonorum vitam objicere vokustis ? Sed jam 
retteo ad prtKclaram illam eoncionem tuam. 

VIII. Tu es ille, cui crudelitas displicet?- eui f' 4 ) cum sena- 
tus luctum ac dolorem suura restis mutatione deelarandum een- 
suifset, cum videres mcerere rempublicam amplifsimi ordims 
luctu, 6 noster niisericors 1 quidfacis? quod nulla in barb. 
quisquam tvrarinus j ; omitto enim illud, ( M ) consulem edicere, 
ut senatus senatusconsuko ne obtemperet: quo fcedius nee fieri, 
nee cogitari quidqnam potest; ad miserieordiam red eo* ejus, cui 
uimis vi'detur senatus in conservanda patria fuiise crudeiis. 
Edicere est au-sus cam iHo suo pari, auem tauten omnibus vitiis 
superare cupiebat, ut senatus, contra quant ipse censuif>et. ad 
vestitujn rediret. Quis hoc fecit ulla in Scythia tyrannus, ut 
cos, quos lucta afticeret, lugere nun sineret ? mseroreni relin- 
quis, moeroris auieis insignia : eripis lacrymas, non ccnsolandoy 
sed miuando. Quod si vest-em non publico tonsilio patres con- 
scripti, sed private ofricio aut mLsericordia mutaviisent; tamen 
id iis non licere per interdicta crudelitatis tua-, potestatis erat 
non icrendap. Cum vero id senatus frequens censuiiset, ordines 
reliqui jam ante feeifsent; tu ex tenebricosa popinfi consul ex- 
tractor, ( ,6 ) cum iila saltatrice tonsa senatuni populi Komani 
occasura atque interitum reipublicrc lugere vetuisti. 

IX. At quiorebat etiam paullo ante de me, quid ?uo mihi 
opus fuifset auxi'io? cur non rneis inimicis, meis copiis, rosti- 
tifsern? quasi vei6 non m do ggo, qui multis sape auxilio fuis- 
sem, sed quisquam tarn inops tuerit unquam, qui, isro non noodtj 
P'/opuguatore, tutiorein se, sed adrec'ato aut adstipulatore pa- 
ratiorem fore putaret. Et»o istius pecudis ac putidte carnis t 

(14) Cum scndiLi !i.ci\: .;<?n raffs mut 

uj$eQi \\ hen Cicero was reduced to the condition of a criminal, in 
eonseouei.ee of one or' -Jlodius's laws ; lie changed 1 i is habit upon k, 
was UStial in case of a public impeachment, <ind went apout the stre« 
a mrfurmtig-gbwh, to excite tte n of his fellow- citizens. The 

-v'loie body of the kni-yihi s, and the voting: nobility, to the number of 
Ly thousand, with, youfl -t their head, -eir habit 

likewise. ; and uoon a motion made by the tribune Ni;.- 
too should change their habit tfitu the test of the .city, it was . 
instant'v by an unanimous vol 

(15) Cvri'su/t'M 'edict re, td scrixfus rW.l When 
the motion was m/.ac by Ninniu^ Date to change their hi 

kept hij house on purpoie; bat G.-.biaius vras so. enraged, ti»at he lh-w 
the .fprum, and declared to the people from the 
rostra, that the knigh'ts slwuld pay dear for (hat day's work; and, to 
firm the truth of what he said, he banished L. Lunij, a RobkU> k:. 
tMEO hundred miles from the city, for his distinguished >eal and activu 
Cicero':; service. This was followed presently b_\ an euict from hot 

suls, forbidding the senate to put their late'.vo*e- in execution, and Qor 
joining them, to resume their ordinary dreft. 



ClCERO'S ORATIONS. 375 

you desire of the similarity of your conduct to that of Catilim •, 
than your raising the same band from the expiring remains of 
his associates? than your collecting all the abandoned from 
every quarter ? than your pouring forth the very gaols upon 
me? than }^our arming conspirators? than your exposing my 
person, and the life of every worthy Roman, to their rage 
and violence? But 1 now return to that admirable speech "of 
yours. 

Sect: Vlil. Are you the person who are shocked at cruelty? 
What did you, good tender-hearted sir! when the senate had 
resolved to signify their concern and affliction, by changi 
their habit, when you saw the highest frder of the state expi 
their sorrow by their mourning ? what the most barbarous tyrant 
never did. I pafs by the orders given by a consul, that the 
senate should not obey their own decree ; a proceeding, how- 
ever^ than which none can be conceived more infamous; and 
return to the compafsion of the man who thought the senate too 
cruel in saving their country. He had the impudence to order, 
in conjunction with that brother of his, whom yet lie was de- 
sirous to surpafs in all manner of wickednefs, that the senate, 
contrary to their own ordinance, should resume their usual ha- 
bit. What Scythian tyrant ever refused the liberty of groaning 
under the burden himself had imposed? You leave them in 
affliction, and won't allow them to give marks of it; you pre- 
vent theirs, not by consolation, but by menaces. Supposing 
the conscript fathers had changed their habit, not in conse- 
quence of a public ordinance, but from a principle of private 
friendship or compafsion, it would still have been an act of ty- 
rannical power had you cruelly interposed with your edicts to 
prevent it: but when a full senate had decreed it., when all the 
other orders of the state had already done it, then you, who was 
a consul, being dragged out from a dark tavern, with that sleek 
dancing lady, forbid the senate to lament the fall and rum of 
the state. 

Seci\ IX. But not long before he asked me what need I had 
for his afsistance, and why I had not opposed my forces to those 
c?f my enemies.? As if I, who had often afsisted many, nay, as «i 
the most destitute person alive would think himself more secure 
under such a protector, or better prepared for his trial with such 
an advocate and voucher. Was I desirous of throwing myself 
upon the counsels or protection of that filthy lump of brutality ? 



(16) Cum ilia saltairice tons&>~\ Gabinius is here meant, who is put Ls the 
feminine gender to denote his effeminacy, and is called saltatrix, because 
his joy at Cicero's banishment is said to have made him dance naked at a 
public entertainment. 



376 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

silio scilicet aut prsesidio niti volebam ? ab hoc ejecto cadavere 
cjuidquam mihi aut opis aut ornamenti exspectabam ? Consu- 
lem ego turn requirebam: consulem, inquam,non ilium quidem, 
quern in hoc animali invenire non pofsem, qui tantam reipub. 
causam gravitate et consilio suo tueretur; sed qui, tanquam 
truncus a.tque stipes, si stetifset modo, pofsit sustinere tamen ti- 
tulum consulates. Cum enim eiset omnis causa ilia mea consu- 
lates et seoatoria, auxilio mihi opus fuerat et consulis et senatus: 
quorum alterum etiam ad perniciem meam erat a vobis consuli- 
pus canyersunr^ alterufia reipublicse penitus ereptum. Ac ta- 
men, si consilium exquiris rneum, neque ego cei'sifsem, et me 
ipsa suo cotnp'exu patria tenuifset, si mihi cum illo bustuario 
gladiatore, et tecum, et cum collega tua decertandum fuiiset. 
Alia enim causa prastanlifsimi viri Q,. ]Nletelli fuit: quern ego 
civem meo judicio cum deorum immortalium laude conjungo: 
qui C. illi Mario fortifsimo viro, et cofs. et sextum consuli, et 
ejus invictis legionibus, ne armis conHioeret, cedendum efse 
duxit. Quod mihi igitur certamen eiset hujusmodi ? cum 
C. Mario scilicet, aut cum aliquo pari? ( ,7 ) an cum altero bar- 
bato Epieuro, cum altero Catilina? laternario? quos naque ego, 
neque supercilium tuum, neque college tui cymbala ac crotala 
fugi: neque tarn fui timidus, ut qui in maximis turbinibus ac 
fluctibus reipublicse navem gubernafsem, salvamque in porta 
collocafsem, frontis tuae nubeculam, turn collegx tui contamina- 
tum spiritum pertimescerem ; alios ego vidi ventos, alias pro- 
spexi animo procellas, aliis impendcntibus tempestatibus non 
cefsi, ( l *) sed his unuin me pro omnium salute obtuli. Itaque 
discefsu turn meo omnes illi nelarii gladii de manibus crude- 
lifsimis exciderunt: cum quidem tu, 6 vecors et aniens, cum 
omnes boni abditi inclusique mrererent, templa gemerent, tecta 
ipsa urbis lugerent, complexus es illud tunestum animal ex ne- 
fariis stupris, ex civile cruore, ex omnium scelerum importuni- 
tate et liagitiorum impuuitate eoncretum : atque eodem in tem- 
plo, eodem et loci vestigio et temporis, arbitria non mei solum, 
sed patriae runeris abstulisii. 



(17) An cum altero barbato Fjicurc.'] Fiso, in his outward carriage, af- 
fected the mein and garb of a philosopher, b< o in his look's, s 

lid in his drefs, slow in his speech, morose in hit; manners, the very p; 
of antiquity, and a pattern of the aiuiei t republic; hut under the gui 
virtue, he was a dirtv, sotti<h, stupid Epicurean, and wallowed in all the 
low and filthy pleasures of life. 

(18) Sed h e pro ojymiiwi salute cbtuH ] Cicero, in this parage, 
and in several other pafsages of his orations, makes a merit of having sub- 
mitted to a voluntary exi'r, in ore! • blood of his fellov 
zens, and preserve the public tranquillh; I veracity in this » 
liable to be justly questioned. It : nee entertained a d« 

of taking up anus in his. own defence, and he is constantly reproa^ 
himself in his letters to Terentia and to Attfcus, during his exile, foi 
having done it; so that the patriot mi , is, appears to 

be nothing but the plausible colouring c Were it to be 



ClCERo'S ORATIONS. 377 

Did I expect either afsistance or countenance from that rotten 
carcase ? At that time I wanted a consul : a consul, I say, not 
such a one indeed as was capable of defending so mighty a state 
by his wisdom and Counsels^ for such I could not have found in 
that animal ■ but one who, like a log or trunk of a tree, was 
able at leasts provided he could but stand, to have borne the title 
of the consulship. For my cause being wholly consul and 
senatorian, I Wanted the afsistance both of a consul and a 
senate : but the consuls were bent upon my destruction ; and as 
for the senate, its authority was entirely abolished. If you would 
have my sentiments upon the matter, however, know that I 
would not have yielded, and that my country should have held 
me fast in her embraces, if that murdering gladiator, yourself, 
and your colleague, had been the only enemies I was to contend 
with. The case of Q,. Metellus, that illustrious citizen, whose 
glory, in my opinion, is equal to that of the immortal gods, was 
very different, when he thought it advisable to yield, rather 
than engage with that bravest of men, C. Marius, then in his 
sixth consulship, and with his invincible legions. What such 
conflict had I to sustain ? was I to contend with C. Marius, or 
any one equal to him, or with a bearded Epicurean, in conjunc- 
tion with Catiline's lantern -bearer ? From such, believe me, I 
never fled; nor from your haughty looks, nor from the pipes 
and cymbals of your colleague; nor,< after steering the vefsel 
of the republic amidst the most dreadful storms and hurricanes, 
and conducting her safe into the harbour of tranquillity, was I 
so pusillanimous as to dread the clouds of your countenance, 
or the stinking breath of your colleague. I foresaw other blasts, 
other storms , to those that had already threatened me I did not 
yield, but withstood them alone for the sake of the public safety* 
Accordinghy, at my departure, every wicked sword dropped 
from every inhuman hand ; whilst thou, mad wretch! at a time 
when every worthy Roman was lamenting in secret, when our 
very temples were groaning, when even the dwellings of Rome 
wore a mournful aspect, embraced that fatal monster, that com- 
pound of horrid lew dhefs, of civil murder, of all manner of atro- 
cious crimes and wiekednefs committed with impunity; and in 
the same temple, on the same spot of ground, and at the same 
instant of time, received the price, not only of my ruin, but of 
that of your country. 



admitted 'that a regartl to his country determined him to withdraw from 
it, he could not, as the ingenious Mr. Melmoth observes, with any degree 
of truth, boast of his patriotism upon that -occasion. Since his wannest 
advocates mast needs allow, that he no sooner executed this resolution, 
than he heartily repented of it. The truth is, his tendernefs for the peaqe 
of his country could not be very great, for he exprefsly desired Atticus to 
raise the mob in his favour, if there were any hopes of making a succefs- 
ful push for his restoration. 

Bb 



3T$ M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

X. Quid ego illorum dierum epulas, quid laetitiam et gratu- 
ktionem tuam, quid cum tuis sordidifsimis gregibus intemperan- 
tilsimas perpotationes praedicem ? quis te iilis diebus sobrium, 
quis agentem aliquid quod efset fibero dignum, quis denique in 
publico viciit ? cum collegae tui domus cantu et cymbalis per- 
sonaret ; cum que ipse nudus in eonvivio saltaret : in quo ne turn 
quidem, cum ilium suum sanatorium vevsaret orbem, for tunas 
rotam pertimescebat. Hie autem non tarn concinnus heluo, 
nee tarn musicus, jacebat in suo Graecorum fcetore atque vino; 
quod quidem istius, in iilis reipublicse luctibus, quasi aliquod 
Lapitharum aut Centaurorum convivium ferebatur : in quo nemo 
potest dicere, utrum iste plus biberit, an vomuerit, an eftuderit. 
Tu etiam mentionem facies consulatus tui? aut te fuifse Romse 
consuiem dicere audebis? Quid! tu in lictoribus, in toga 
et prabtexta. efse consulatum putas ? quae ornamenta etiam 
in Sex. Clodio, te consule, efse voluisti. Hujus til Clodiani 
•canis insignibus consulatum declarari putas? Ammo consuiem 
else oportet, consilio, fide, gravitate, vigilansia, cura, toto de- 
nique munere consulatus, omni officio tuendo, maximeque, id 
quod vis nominis prxscribit, reip. consulendo. Ego consuiem 
efse putem, qui senatum efse in republica non putavit ? et sine 
eo consilio consuiem numerem, sine quo Romae ne reges qui- 
dem efse pottterunt? Etenim ilia jam omitto : cum servorum de- 
lectus haberetur in foro, arma in templum Castoris, et luce et 
palam comportarentur : id autem templum, sublato aditu, re- 
vulsis gradibus, a conjuratorum reliquiis, atque a Catilinas prae- 
varicatore quondam, turn ultore, armis teneretur: cum equites 
Romani relegarentur, viri boni lapidibus e foro pellerentur ; 
senatui non solum juvare rempublicam, sed ne lugere quidem 
liceret: cum civis is quern hie ordo, afsentiente Italia, cunctis- 
que gentibus, conservatorem patriae judiearet, nullo judicio, 
nulla lege, nullo more, servitio atque armis pelleretur, non di- 
cam auxilio vestro, quod vere licet dicere, sed certe silentio: 
turn Roma: fuifse consules quisquam existimabit ? Qui latrones 
igitur, si ' quidem vos consules ; qui praedones, qui hostes, qui 
pioditores, qui tyranni nonnnabuntur ? 



379 

Sect. X. Why should I mention the feastings of those days, 
why your mirth and rejoicing, why your excefsive drinking 
amidst the infamous tribe of your companions? Where is the 
man who ever saw } t ou in your senses at that time ? where the 
man that saw you employed in any thing becoming a gentle- 
nffui? where, iti a word, the man who saw you appear in pub- 
lic? whilst the house of your colleague resounded in' the mean 
time with songs and cymbals, whilst he himself danced naked 
amidst the entertainment, without being taught by the giddy 
dances he led up, to apprehend the giddinefs of fortune. 'As 
for this fellow, who is not so elegant and musical a rioter as the 
other, he contented himself with wallowing in wine, and amidst 
the impurities of his Greeks; which entertainment of his, at a 
time of public sorrow, was said to resemble those of the Lapithae 
and the Centaurs; nor is it easy to say whether he dra!nk, or 
vomited, or wasted a greater quantity of wine upon that occa- 
sion. And will you, notwithstanding this, make mention of 
your consulship ? Will you have the impudence to say that you 
was a consul at Rome ? What ! do you imagine that the con- 
sulship consists in the lictors, in the gown, and the prastexta ? 
ornaments which, when consul, you bestowed even upon Sextus 
Ciodius. Do you think that the consulate is exprefsed by 
badges worn by Ciodius' s dog ? One cannot be a consul without 
spirit, conduct, honour, gravity, vigilance, care; without dis^ 
charging, in a word, every duty of his office, by defending, and, 
above all, by consulting the interest of the state, which is im- 
plied in the very name. Shall I look upon him as a consul, 
who did not think there was a senate in the republic? Can I 
figure to myself a consul, but in conjunction with that afsembly, 
M'ithout which even kings could not reign at Rome ? I shall not 
mention the levies of slaves that were made in the forum; the 
arms which were carried publicly, and in the face of day, into 
the temple of Castor ; the obstructing of the entrance of that 
temple, the tearing away of the steps that led up to it, its being 
taken pofsefsion of by the remains of the conspirators in arms, 
and by him who had once been the sham-accuser of Catiline, 
but then his avenger. At a time when Roman knights were 
banished, when 'worthy citizens were stoned out of the forum, 
when the senate was not allowed, not only to afsist their coun- 
try, but even to mourn over it; when a citizen, who was de- 
clared the saviour of his country by this afsembly, by the com- 
mon voice of Italy, and of all nations, was expelled by slaves 
and open violence, I shall not say by your afsistance, though I 
might consistently with truth, but certainly with your conni- 
vance, without any trial, without any law, without any prece- 
dent; will anyone think there were consuls at Rome? If you 
-are to be accounted consuls, who must be reckoned cut-throats, 
who robbers, who enemies 2 who traitors, who tyrants? 

"Bb 2 



3S0 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XI. Magnum nomen est, magna species, magna dignitas y 
magna majestas consulis ; non capiunt angustia? pectoris tui r 
non recipit levitas ista, non egestas animi ; non infirmitas in- 
genii sustinet, non insolentia rerum secundarum tantam perso- 
nam, tarn gravem, tarn severam, (, 19 ) SepJasia, mehercule, ut 
dici audiebam, te,. ut pr.im.um aspexit, Campanum consulem re- 
pudiavit. ( i0 ) Audierat Decios, Magios r et de-Taurea illo Ju- 
bellio aliquid acceperat i in. quibus si moderatio ilia, quae in 
nostris solet else consulibus, non fuit ;. at fuit pompa, fuit spe- 
cies, fuit inceisus, saltern seplasia dignus et Capua. Gabinium 
denique si vidifsent duumvirum vestri iili unguentarii r citius ag- 
novifsent ; erant illi cbmpti capiili r et madentes cincinnorum 
fimbria?, et fluentes cerufsata?qua? bucca?, digna? Capua, sed ilia 
veterU/; nam hsec quidem, qua? nunc est, splendidiisimorum ho- 
minum, fortifsimorum virorum, optimoruin civium, mihique 
amicifsimorum multitudine redundant: quorum Capua? te pra?- 
textatum nemo aspexit, qui non gemeret desiderio mei : cujus 
consilio, cum universam rempublicam, turn iilam ipsam urbem 
meminerant else servatam ; me inaurata ^tatua donarant ; me- 
patronum unum adsciverant : a me se habere vitam, fortunas, 
liberos arbitrabantur : me et pra?sentem contra latrocimum tuum 
suis decretis legatisque dcfenderunt, et absentem,. principe Cn. 
Pompeio referente,. et de corpore reipub. tuorum scelerum tela 
revellente,. revocarunt. An tu. eras consul, cum in Palatio mea 
domus ardebat, non casu aliquo, sed ignibus injectis, instigante 
te? Ecquod in hac urbe majus unquam inccndium fait, cui non 
consul subvenerit? At tuo illo ipso tempore apud socrum tuam 
prope a meis axlibus, cujus domum ad meam exhauriendam pa- 
tefeceras, sedebas, non extinctor, sed auctor incendii ; et ar- 
dentes faces furiisGodianis pene ipse consul miuistrabas. 

XII. An vero reliquo tempore consulem te quisquam dux it : 
quisquam tibi paruit? quisquam in curiam venienti adsurrexit? 

quisquam consulenti respondendum putavitr numerandus est 
ille annus denique in republic;!, cum obiuutuikset scnatus, judicia 
conticnilsent, racererent boni, vis latrocimi vestri tota urbe voli- 
taret, neque civ is unus ex civitate, sed ipsa civitas tuo et GaJbmii 



(19) Seplasia, ?fiahercide, ut dici audiebam, te, ut prim urn aspexit, Campkt- 
riuah consulem repudiuiit~\ Cesar, in his consulship, having sent a « 

to Capua, gave the command of it to Pc mpey and Piso, with the title of 
Duumvirs. Piso, not content with this title, afsumed that of consul: so 
that the sense of the pafsage is this: You no sooner made your appearance 
in Capua, than Seplasia, or the perfumers' street, conceived so mean an opi- 
nion of you, that they thought you unworthy even of ^h - office of duumvir. 

(20) Audierat Decios, Magios, e! de Taured illo Jubeliio aliquid acccperaL] 
These are the names of illustrious CampauianSj of whom we iind honour- 
able mention made by Livy. 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. 381 

Sect. XI. Great is the authority, great is the appearance, 
great the dignity, and great the majesty of a consul ; but the 
narrownefs of thy soul cannot admit these, the levity and mean- 
nefs of thy spirit cannot receive them-; nor can thy contracted 
capacity, and thy insolence in prosperity, sustain so important, 
so weighty, and so venerable a character. I have been told, I 
declare, that even the perfumers' street at Capua, rejected you 
for a Campanian consul, the moment they saw you. They had 
heard a little of the Decii, of the Magii, and of' Taureas jubel- 
lius, who, though they were not pofsefsed of that wkdom which 
Our consuls generally have, had yet pomp, appearance, and a 
stately manner, which did honour at least to the perfumer's street, 
and to the city of Capua. It would, in short, have given greater 
pleasure to these sellers of perfumes, to have had Gabinius in 
quality of duumvir. His hair was dfefsed, his curled locks 
nicely perfumed, and his cheeks painted in a manner worthy 
of Capua ; I mean of old Capua ; for Capua, at present, abounds 
with the most illustrious men, the bravest heroes, the best citi- 
zens, all my very good friends. There was not a man of these 
who saw you at Capua, that did not lament the lofs of me, by 
whose counsels they remembered that the whole state, and that 
very city in particular, had been preserved To me they had 
raised a gilded statue ; me they had taken as their sole pro- 
tector ; to me they reckoned themselves indebted for their lives, 
for their fortunes, and for their children. When I was present, 
they had defended me against thy robberies by their decrees and 
deputies; and when absent, they recalled me at the motion of 
Pompey, who tore the weapons of thy villany from the body 
of the republic. Was you consul when my house on the Paia- 
tium was on fire, not by accident, but by torches thrown into it 
at your instigation? Did ever a fire break out in Rome, and the 
consul not hasten to extinguish it? But you were sitting all the 
while near my house, at your mother-in-law's, whose doors you 
had thrown open to receive what was plundered from me: 
there you sat, not indeed to extinguish, but to increase the 
flames; and, consul as you was, in a manner supplied the fu- 
rious instruments of Ciodius with burning torches. 

Sect. XII. During the remaining part of your year, did any 
man look upon you as consul ? did any man obey you ? did any 
senator rise up to salute you, when you came into the senate ? 
did any one give you his opinion, when you asked it ? Jn a word, 
is that year to be reckoned in the Roman annals, in which the 
senate was silent, the courts of justice shut up, every worthy 
man opprefsed with affliction, the violence of thy robbery raging 
over the whole city; when not only one citizen left Rome, but 
the city itself gave way to your rage and wickednefs, and to 
that of your colleague ? Yet even then, filthy Caesonian ' thou 

Bb 3 



382 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sceleri furorique cefsifset ? At ne turn quidem emersisti, lutuk ute 
Caesonine, ex miserrimis nature tuae lordibus ; (*') cum exper- 
rccta tandem virtus ciarifsimi viri, celeviter et verum amicum, 
et optirne meritum ciyem, et sutim pristmum morem requisivit: 
neque est ille vir pafsus, in ea republics, quam ipse decor arat 
atque auxerat, diutins vestrorum scelerum pe-tem morari: cum 
tamen ille, qualiscunque est, qui est ab uno te improbitate vie- 
tus, Gabimus, collegitipse se vix, sed collegit tamen : et contra 
suum Clodium primum simulate, deinde non libenter; ( z ) ad 
extremum tamen pro Cn. Pompeio vere vehementerque pugha- 
vit. Quo quidem in spectaculo mira populi Romani aquitas 
erat: uter eorum perifset, tanquam lanista, in ejusinodi pari, 
lucrum fieri putabat: immortalem vero quae stum, si uterquc 
cecidifset. Sed ille tamen agebat aliquid : tuebatur auctoritatem 
summiviri: erat ipse sceleratus, erat gladiator: cum sceleratq 
tamen, et cum pari gladiatore pugnabat. Tu scilicet homo reli- 
giosus et sanctus, fcedus, quod meo sanguine in pactione pro- 
vinciarum iceras, frangere noluisti; cavcrat enim sibi ille sororius 
adulter, ut, si tibi provinciam, si exercitum, si pecuniam erep- 
tam ex reipublicai visceripus dedii'set, omnium suorum scelerum 
socium te, adjutoremque pva beres ; itaque in ilio tumultu fracti 
fasces, ictus ipse: quotidie tela, lap ides, iuga: deprehensus 
deniquc cum ferro ad senatum is, quern ad Cn. Pompeium in- 
terimendum collocatum fuiise constabat. 

XIII. Et quis audivit non modo actionem aliquam, aut rela- 
tionem, sed vocem onmino, aut querelam tuam r consalem tu te 
fuiise putas, cuius in imperio, qui rempublicam senat&s auctori- 
tate servarat, idemque in Italia, qui omnes omnium gentium 
partes tribus triumphis devinxcrat, is sc in publico tuto statuit 
else non poise ? An turn cratis consules, cum quacUnque de re 
verbum facere cuperatis, aut referre ad senatum, cunCtus i 
reclamabat, ostendebatque nihil e&e vos acturos, nisi prius 



#(21) Cum experrecfh fa'ndem virhts viri.'] P< here 

meant, whose" engagements with Caesar obliged him to 
driven into exile; to ingratiate himself, however, with tlie senate and 
people, ami to correct the insolence pfCtodius, he favoured his return. 

So insolent indeed was Clodius grown, upon his victory over Ci< 
even his friends could not bear him an\ Ibriger; for having : Ci- 

cero, and sent C'ato out of his way, lie began to fancy himself a m 
for Pompev ; and, in open defumee ofhim.su/ed by strat g< m into his I 
the son of "king 'ligrar.es, whom Pompe) had brought with him from the 
East, and kept a prisoner at Rome; and, instead of delivering him up 
when Pompey demanded him, undertook, for a large sum of money, to 
give him his liberty and send him home. This -affront, which Fob 
could not digest, roused him to think of recalling Cicero. 

(■::) Ad Arfr hementcrc, 

pi/il What Cicero refers to in this pafsage, was this: Rome was a 
ed by the rumour of a plot against Pompey 's life, said to be contrix td 



333 

didst not emerge from the vile sink of thy nature, when a racst 
illustrious Roman at last rousing his courage, recalled bis sin- 
cere friend, and a worthy patriot resinned his former spirit, and 
would not any longer suffer your wickeduefs to commit ravages 
in a state which he by his victories bad adorned and enlarged ; 
though at that time even Gabinius, whom you alone surpals in 
villany, bad as he is, recovered himself; it was with difficulty 
indeed, however, he recovered himself, and acted for Cn. 
Pompey, against his beloved Clodius, at first in appearance 
only, afterwards faintly, but at last honestly and vigorous! v. 
At the sight of this encounter, the Roman people showed great 
moderation : for, like a master of gladiators, the match being- 
equal, they considered themselves as sure of gaining by the fall 
of either; and if both should fall, their gain, they thought, 
would be immortal. Still, however, Gabinius did something ; 
he defended the authority of a very great man : he was indeed 
himself an abandoned fellow, a gladiator ; but he was matched 
with one who was equally so. Rut you, a person of scrupu- 
lous integrity, no doubt, would not break the league, which, 
in the convention for the province;;, you had sealed with my 
blood. For that incestuous adulterer, Clodius, had bargained 
for your support and afsistance in all his wicked schemes, on 
the condition of his giving you a province, an army, and mo- 
ney torn from the bowels of the republic. Accordingly, in the 
tumult which ensued, his fasces were broke, himself wounded : 
nothing was to be seen daily, but arms, violence, and flight; 
at last one was seized in arms near the senate-house, and it ap~ 
peared plainly he was posted there to murder Pompey. 

Sect. XIII. Upon that occasion, who ever heard of any 
action or remonstrance of yours, nay who ever heard you 
speak, or complain? Do you suppose yourself to have been 
a consul when, under your administration, the man wno 
had saved the state, and the authority of the senate, could not 
be safe in Italy; nor he who, by three triumphs, had united all 
the nations of the earth under the Roman power, safe to ap- 
pear in public ? Were ye consuls at a time svhen, the very mo- 
ment ye began to speak upon any affair, or to propose any 
thing to the senate, the whole assembly opposed you, and 

by Clodius ; one of whose slaves was seized at the door of the senate, 
•with a dagger, which his master had given him, as he confefsed, to stab 
Pompey. Many daring attacks too having been made on Pompey's per- 
son by Clodius's mob, he retired from the senate and the forum, til! Clo- 
dius was out of. his tribunate, and shut himself up in "his own house, whi- 
ther he was still pursued, and actually besieged by Damio, one of Clo- 
dius's freed-men. So audacious an outrage as this could not be overlooked 
by the magistrates, who came out with all their forces to seize or drive 
away Damio; upon which a genera! engagement ensued, a.kl Gabinius 
was forced to break his league with Ciodius, and light for Pompey. 

B b 4 



384 M. T. CICEfcONIS QRATIQNES. 

meretulifsetis? cum vos, quanquam fcedere obstricti tenebamini, 
tamen cupere vos diceretis, sed lege impediri ? quae iex pnva-, 
1 tis hominibus else lex non videbatur, inusta per servos, incisa 
per vim, imposita per latrocinium, sublato senatu, pulsis e 
ioro bonis omnibus, capta republica, contra omnes lege?, 
nullo scripta more : hanc qui se metuere dicerent, consuies, 
nondicam animi hominum, sed fasti ulli ferre pofsunt? Nam 
si illam legem non putabatis, quae erat contra omnes leges, in- 
demnati civis, atque integri capitis, bonorumque tribunitia pro- 
scriptio ; hac tamen obstricti pactione tenebamini: quis vos non 
rnodo consuies, sed liberos fuifse putet, quorum mens fuerit op- 
prefsa praemio, lingua adstricta merceder sin illam vos soli ie- 
gem putabatis, quisquam vos consuies tunc fuifse, aut nunc 
else consulares putet, qui ejus civitatis, in qua in principum 
numero vultis efse, non leges, non instituta, non mores, non 
juranoritis? An, ( 23 ) cum proficiscebamini paludati in provin- 
cias vel, emptas, vel ereptas, consuies vos quisquam putavit? 
Itaque credo, si minus frequentia sua vestrum egrei':>um or- 
pando, atque celebrando; at omnibus saltern bonis, ut consuies, 
non tristifsimis, ut hostes, aut proditores prosequebantur. 

XIV. Tu ne etiam immanifsimum ac foedifsimum monstrum, 
ausus es meum discefsum ilium, testem sceleiis et crudelitatis 
tuaL j , maledicti et contumeliue loco poaere ? Quo quidem tem- 
pore cepi, P. C. fructum immortalem vestri in me et amoris et 
judicii ; qui non admurmuratione, sed voce et clamore, abjecti 
hominis et semivivi furorcm petulantiamque fregistis. Tu luc- 
tuin senatus, tu desiderium equestris ordinis, tu squalorem 
Italiae, tu curiae taciturnitatem annuam, tu silentium perpetuum 
judiciorum acfori, tu cateta ilia in maledicti loco pones, quae 
meus discefsusreipublicae vulnerainrlixit ? qui sicalamitosifsimus 
fuifset, tamen milericordia dignior, quam contumelia; et cum 
gloria potius efse conjunctus, quam cum probro putaretur; at- 
que ille, dolor meus duntaxat, vestrum quidem scelus ac de- 
decus babcretur. Cum vero (forsitan boc (]uod dicturus sum, 
mirabileauditu efse videatur; sed certe id dicam, quod sentio), 
xum tantis a vobis, P. C. beneficiis alfectus sim, tantis ho- 



(23) Cum profiscebamini paludati in provincics.~\ It was usual for the 
Roman magistrates, before they set out for their provinces, to go and pay 
their devotions in the capitol ; after which they began their march out of 
the city, habited in a rich paludamentum, which was a robe of purpleor 
scarlet, interwoven with gold, and were generally accompanied with a 
vast retinue of all sexes and ages. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 385 

declared that no businefs should be done till the question was 
put concerning my return ? Were ye consuls, when ye said, 
though held fast by your convention, that you wished my re- 
turn, but that you were bound up by law ? Is it pofsible that 
men, nay that the public annals, can endure the consuls, who 
o-ive out that they are afraid of a law, which did not seem to 
bind private persons; a law, with which slaves hath branded 
the republic, which violence has engraved, which robbers have 
imposed, when the authority of the senate was abolished, when 
every worthy citizen was driven from the forum, when the state 
was in captivity ; a law, in a word, in contradiction to every 
other law, and pafsed without any of the usual forms ? For if 
you did not think that a law, which contradicted all laws, being 
only a tribunitian proscription of the person and estate of a free 
and uncondemned citizen, and yet were held fast by this con- 
vention ; who can reckon you not only consuls, but even free- 
men, whose souls were enslaved by corruption, and your tongues 
tied up by lucre? But if you were the only persons that thought 
it a law, who can think that you were then consuls, or are now 
consular, when you are ignorant of the laws, the institutions, 
the manners, and rights of a state, where you want to be reck- 
oned amongst its principal citizens ? When you set out in your 
military robes for the provinces, which you had either bought 
or extorted, did any one consider you as consuls ? and those who 
accompanied you to do you honour at your departure, though 
their number w r as but small, yet they attended you, no doubt, 
with good washes as usual to consuls, and not with such im- 
precations as are bestowed on enemies and traitors. 

Sect. XIV. And shalt thou, base and barbarous monster! 
dare to reproach me with my departure, that proof of thy guilt 
and cruelty ? Then it was, conscript fathers, that I received the 
immortal proofs of your love and regard for me, when you 
checked the fury and petulance of that abject half-dead wretch, 
not by murmurs, but loud acclamations. Dost thou reproach 
me with the grief of the senate, the sorrow of the equestrian 
order, the mourning of Italy ; with the senators having thrown 
up all public concerns, for the space of a whole year, with the 
continued silence of our courts and forum, and all the other 
wounds given the state by my departure ? Allowing it to have 
been unfortunate, it w r as still more worthy of compafsion than re- 
proach, rather to be accounted glorious than infamous ; and what 
was only an affliction to me, covered you with guilt and infamy. 
What I am going to say will, perhaps, appear somewhat strange, 
but I shall always speak what I think. Since then, conscript 
fathers, I have been so highly favoured and honoured by you, 
I am so far from looking upon my departure as a calamity, 



386 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

noribus; non modo illam calamitatem efse non duco; sed, si 
quid mihi potest a repub. efse sejunctum, quod vix potest, 
privatim ad meum nomen augend um, optandam ducomihi fuif&e 
illam expetendamque for tun am. Atque ut tuum lsetifsimum diem 
cum tristifsimo meo conferam, utrum tandem bono viro et sapi- 
enti optabilius putas, sic exire e patria, ut omnes sui cives sa- 
lutem, incolumitatem,reditum precentur, quod mibi accidit: an, 
quod tibi proficiseenti evenit, ut omnes exsecrarentur, male pre- 
carentur, unam tibi illam viam, et perpetuum efse velient ? mihi, 
medius fidius, in tanto omnium mortaiium odio, justo praesertim 
et debito, quaevis fuga, potius quam ulla provincia eiset optatior. 

XV. Sed perge porro: nam si illud meum turbulentifsinmm 
tempus profectionis tuo tranquillifsimo praestat, quid conferam 
reliqua, qua: in te dedecoris plena fuerunt, in me dignitatis? 
Me kalendis Januar. (*■») qui dies, post obitum occasumque nos- 
trum, reipublieoe primus illuxit, frequentifsimus senatus, con- 
cursu Italise, referente clarifsimo atque fortifsimo viro P. Len- 
tulo, consentiente popuio Romano, atque una. voce revocavit ; 
me idem senatus exteris nationibus, me Jegatis magistratibusque 
nostris auctoritate sua, cons ulari bus Uteris, non, ut tu Insuber 
dicere ausus es, oibatum patria, sed ut senatus illo ipso tempore 
appellavit, civem conservatorem reipublicae commendavit ; ad 
meam unius salutem senatus auxilium omnium civium cuncta ex 
Italia, qui rempub. salvam efse velient, consulis voce et Uteris 
impiorandum putavit ; mei capitis servandi causa Romam uno 
tempore, quasi signo dato, Italia tota convenit ; de mea salute 
P. Lentuli, praesrantifsimi viri, atque optimi consulis, Cn. Pom- 
peii, clarifsimi atque invictifsimi civis, caeterorumque principum 
civitatis, celeberrmue et gratifsjmae conciones fuerunt; de me 
senatus ita dvcrevit, Cn. Pompeio auctorc et ejus sententia? prin- 
cipe, UT, SI aUIS IMPEDlSSfcT REDITUM MEUM, IN 
HOSTIUM NUMF.RO PUTARETUR: iisque verbis ea de 
me senatus auctoritas declarata est, ut ncmini sit triumpbus ho- 
noriricentins, quam mihi salus restitutioque perscripta. De me, 
cum omnes magistratus promulgafsent, pneter uniini pratorem, 
a quo non fuit postulandum, fratrem inimici mei, (") praterque 
duos de lapide emptos tribunos plebis, legimcomitiis centuriatis 
tulit P. Lentulus consul de collegae Q. Metelli sententia : quern 
mecum eadem respublica, quae in tribunatu ejus disjunxerut, in 
consulatu virtute optimi ac justilsiim viri, sapientiiique conjunxit. 



(21) Qui dies, post obitum occasumque nostrum, reipublieoe primus iUuxit.~\ 
Cicero, who embraces every opportunity of displaying his own importance, 
represents himself, in this pafsa^e, as a bright luminary of the stale; 
which, during his exile, wis involved in darknefs. 

( c 2b.) Praicrquc duos de lapide tmpios tribunos plebis.'] These tribunes 
were Sex. Attilius Serranns, and Num. Quinctius: ctt 
said in aliubon to the manner of selling slaves. 



CICERo's oration's. 387 

that it seems to me to have been an event to be wifhed for, and 
greatly dehred, for the increase of my personal glory, if indeed 
I can have any glory, as I scarce can, separate from that of the 
state. But to compare the day of my greatest sorrow with 
that of your greatest joy, which do you think a (vise and good 
man would prefer ; to leave his country as { did, with the 
prayers of all his countrymen for his safety, welfare, and re- 
turn ; or ? as happened to you upon netting out for yolir pro- 
vince, to have the curses and imprecations of all, and their 
wishes that that journey might be your last? By Jove, had 'I 
incurred such universal hatred, especially such just and de- 
served hatred, I should have preferred flight at any rate, to any 
province whatever. 

Sect. XV, But, to proceed: If my departure, which was the 
most tempestuous period pt' my life, be preferable to your 
calmest days, what comparison will the rest admit of, so full of 
infamy to you, and of dignity to me? On the kalends of Ja- 
nuary, the first day that shone upon the state after my eclipse 
and fall, when all Italy flocked together, a full senate, with 
the afsent of the Roman people, unanimously recalled me, 
upon a motion made by that renowned and brave citizen P. 
Lentulus. The same senate, by its own authority, recom- 
mended me, in consular letters, to foreign nations, to our lieu- 
tenants and magistrates ; not as one banished from his country, 
as you, Insubrian, used to exprefs yourself, but, to use their 
own language, as a citizen, and the saviour of the state. For 
iny preservation alone; the senate thought proper, by the voice 
and letters of a consul, to implore the afsistance of our fellow- 
citizens throughout all Italy, who were concerned for the pub- 
lic welfare. To safe my life, all rtaly flocked to Rome, atone 
and the same time, as if upon an appointed signal. For my 
safety, many and weighty were the harangues of P. Lentulus, 
that worthy man and excellent consul; of Cn. Pompey, that 
renowned and invincible Roman ; and of the other leading men 
in the state. The senate decreed, upon a motion first made by 
Pompey, that whoever obstructed my return should be reck- 
oned an enemy to the state; and in such words was the autho- 
rity of the senate exprefsed in regard to me, that never, was a 
triumph declared to any person in more honourable terms, than 
those wherein my safety and restoration were conceived. 
When all the magistrates had published the bill for my return, 
excepting one praetor, from whom it. could not be expected, as 
be was brother to my enemy ; and two tribunes of the people, 
,who were bought at common auction ; P. Lentulus, the consul, 
proposed the law in the comitia by centuries, with the consent of 
his colleague Q,. Metellus, whom the interests of the state, which 
had set us at variance in his tribuneship, united with me in his 



3-3£ M, T. CICEROTJIS ORATIONES. 

Quae lex quemadmodum accepta sit, quid me attinet dicere ? 
vx vobis audio, nemini civi ullam, quo minus adefset, satis justam 
excusationem efse visam : nullis comitiis unquam, multitudiriem 
hominum tantarn, neque splendid iorem fuifse: hoc eerte video, 
quod indicant tabulae publicae, vos rogatores, vos diribitores, 
vos custodes fuifse tabulaium : et, quod in honoribus vestrorum 
propin quorum non facitis, vel aetatis excusatione, vel honoris, 
id in salute mea, nullo rogante, vos vestra sponte fecistis, 

v XVI. Confer nunc, Epicure ooster, ex tiara producte, non ex 
schola confer, si audes, absentiam tuam cum mea. ObtinuisU 
provinciam consularem fmibus iis, quos lex cupiditatis tua?, non 
quos lex generi tui pepigerat ; ( l6 ") nam lege Cassaris justifsima, 
at que optima, populi liberi, plane et vere erant liberi : lege 
a-utem ea, quam nemo legem, pi acter te et collegam tuum, pu- 
tavit, omnis erat tibi Achaia, Thefsalia, Athenae, cuncta Gracia 
addicta. Habebas exercitum tantum, quantum tibi non senatus, 
aut populus Romanus dederat, sed quantum tua libido con- 
Scripserat : serarium exhauseras. Quas res gefsisti imperio, ex- 
ercitu, provincia consulari r quas res gefserit, quacro ? qui ut 
venit statim, nondum commemora rapinas, nondum exactas 
pecuuias, non captas, non imperatas, non neces sociorum, non 
cardem hospitum, non pertidiam, non immanitatem, non scelera 
pra?dico : mox, si viuebitur, ut cum fure, ut cum sacrilego, ut 
cum sicario disputabo : nunc meam spoliatam fortunam confe- 
ram cum florente fortuna imperatoris; quis unquam provinciam 
cum exeicitu obtinuil, qui nullas ad senatuiu literas miserit ? 
tantam vero provinciam cum tanto exeicitu, Macedoniam prae- 
sertim, quam tantae barbarorum gentes attingunt, ut semper 
JMacedonicis imperatoribus iidem fines provincial fuerint, qui 
gladiorum atque pilorum : ex qua aliquot pratorio imperio, con- 
suLni quidem nemo rediit, qui incolumis fuerit, qui non tri- 
umphant? est hoc novum: multo illud magis; appellatus est 
hie vulturms lllius provincial (si diis placet) imperator. 

XVII. ( 37 ) Ne turn quidem, Paule noster, tabulas Romam cum 
Jaurea mittere audebas ? misi , inquit ; quis unquam * ecitavit ? quis, 
utrecitarentur, postulavit? nihil enim mea. jam refert, utrum tu, 



(QG) Nam lege Ocsaris justifsiim'i atque optima, populi liberi, plane ci 
vcrc erant liheriS] The law here referred to, was that made by Cesar in 
his consulship, in the year of Rome 69i; whereby Achaia, Thefsaly, and 
all Greece were left entirely free. 

(27) Ne turn quidem, Panic rtoster.'] L. JKmilius PauKis obtained a com- 
plete victory over Macedonia, in the year of Koine S&5 ; and ;.s Piso had 
Macedonia for his province, and conducted himself in it so ing!oriou>ly, 
Cicero, by way of derision, calls him faulus. 



CICERO S ORATION?. 3'8'£ 

consulship, by means of the courage and wisdom of that excellent 
person. In what manner this law was received, it is needlefs- 
for me to mention. I learn from yourselves, that no citizen was 
allowed to be absent upon any pretence whatever; that a greater 
or more splendid, appearance was never seen at any corhitia. 
This I myself know, for I find it in the public registers, that you 
solicited for me, that yon distributed the tablets, that you took 
care to prevent any fraud in collecting the votes ; and that, for 
my safety,, you did r of your own accord, without any solicitation ,. 
what your age and dignity exempt you from, even when your 
kinsmen are candidates for public honours. 

Sect. XVI. Compare now, thou Epicurean ■!' brought from 
the stye, not from the school; compare, if thou darest, thy ab- 
sence with mane. You obtained a consular province, under 
such regulations as were prescribed by your ambition, not such 
as were fixed by your son-in-law ; for by that just and excel- 
lent law of Caesar, free nations enjoyed their liberty in the strict 
and proper sense ; but by that law, which none besides you and 
your colleague ever thought a law, all Achaia, Thefsaly, Athens, 
and Greece, was given up to you. Yoil had an army, not 
such as the senate and people of Rome gave you, but such as 
your ambition could raise. The treasury too 'was exhausted 
by you. — What exploits did you perform in this command, with 
this army, with this consular province ? Do I ask what exploits 
he performed ? No sooner was he arrived— I shall not yet men- 
tion his rapines, the money he extorted, took, or exacted, the 
execution of our allies, the murder of those who entertained 
him, his perfidy, barbarity,' and crimes: by and by> if you think 
proper, I shall dispute with him, as with a thief, as with one 
guilty of sacrilege, as with a cut-throat } at present I shall con- 
fine myself to Compare the ruins of my fortune with the splendour 
of his imperial command:. Who ever obtained the government 
of a province, with an army, that did not send letters to fcfafe 
senate ? Such a province too, and such an army, especially such 
a province as Macedon, which is surrounded with so many bar- 
barous nations, that our Macedonian governors have never had 
any other barrier to it, but that of swords and javelins ; a pro- 
vince, from which few persons of praetorian dtgnity have re- 
turned without a triumph ; and none of consular dignity, whose 
honour was without a stain. This is something uncommon ; 
but what is still more so, this vulture of Macedon had the title 
of emperor forsooth. 

Sect. XVII. Did you, even then, my Paulus, presume to send 
letters to Rome, wrapt in laurel ? He says he did . Who ever read 
them? who moved that they should be read ? For it signifies no- 



390 M. T. CICEROfrlS ORAflONES. 

conscientia. ctpprefsus scelerum tuoruuij nihil unquam au'sus sis 
scrihere ad euni ordinem, quern despexeras, quern affiixeras, 
quern deleveras : an amici tui tabulas abdideriut, iidemque silen- 
tio suo temeritatern atque audaciam tuam condenmarint. Atque 
baud scio, an inalim te vkieri nullo pud ore .fuifse in Uteris mit- 
tendis, [an] amicos tuos plus habuiise et pudoris et consilii, 
quani aut te videri pu'dentiorum fuiise, quam soles, aut tuum 
factum non efse condemnatum judicio amicorum. Quod si non 
tuis nefanis in hunc ordinem contumeliis in perpetuam tibi cu- 
riam praDciu si fses ; quid tandem erat actum aut gestum in ilia 
provincia, de quo ad senatum cum gratulatione aliqua scribi 
abs te oporteret? vexatio Macedonia;? an oppidorum turpis 
amifsio ? an sociorum direptio? an agrorum. depoptilatio <* 
(* 8 ) an munitio Tbefsalonica; ? an obsefsio miiitaris via; ? an ex- 
ercitus nostri interitus, ferro, fame, frigore, pestiientia ? Tu 
vero, qui ad senatum nihil scripseris, ut in urbe nequior inven- 
tus es, quam Gabinius, sic in provincia paullo tamen quam ille 
demifsior ; nam ille gurgss atque heluo, natus abdoinini suo, 
non laudi atque gloria;, cum equites Rom. in provincia, cum 
publicanos nobiscum et voiuntate etdignitate conjunctos, onmes 
fortunis, multos fama. vitaque privai'set ; cum egiiset aiiu^i nihil 
illo exercitu, nisi ut urbes depopularetur, agios vastaret, ex- 
hauriret domos; ausus est (quidenim ille non auderet?) asepatu 
supplicationem per literas postulare. 

XVIH. O dii immortales ! tune etiam, atque adeo vos, geminx 
voragines scopulique reipublieae, vos meam fortunam depri- 
mitis ? vcstram extollitis ? cum de me t-a scnatusconsulta absente 
facta sint, e;e conciones babita?, is motus fuerit municipiorum 
et coioniarum omnium, ea decreta publicanorum, ea collegio- 
rnm, ea denique generum ordiumque omnium, quae ego non 
modo optare nunquam auderem, sed cogitare non pofsem : 
autem sempitern.ts iceditsiiikv turpitudinis notas sul An 

ego, si te, et Gabinium cruci sulhxos vide rein, majore ; 
latitia ex corporis vestri laceratioue, quam afficior ex fam 
nullum est supplicium putandum, quo aihVi casu aliquo eti 
boni viri fortesque poi>unt. Atque hoc cjuidem etiain isti 
tui dicunt voluptarii G.-ctci, quos utinam ita audi; es 
audiendi ; nunquam te in lot tlagitia ingurgitates. V.erum 



(CS) A)i munitio Thefsalcnicw ? m 
explained byourauthorin his oration 4ei Ills words, are as follow : 

' Macedonia qua erat antea munita pjurimorum imperatorum non t \: r . 
' sed tropans; qua nmltis victoriis erat jamdiu, triumphisque pacata . 
1 a barbaris, qilibus est propter avaritiam pax crepta, vexatur, ut Th 
'■ lonieenses, positi in gremio imperii nostri, relinquere oppL. 
' munire cogantur: ut via Ula nostra, qua: p< oniam est usqi:. 

' Hellespont urn miiitaris, don solum excursionibus 
* sed etiam castris Threciis distiacta. ac aoiata.' 



cicero's orations. 391 

thing to me at present, whether, stung by a sense of your 
crimes, you never presumed to write to that body, which you 
had slighted, which you had persecuted, which you had abo- 
lished ; or whether your friends concealed your letters, and 
thus, by their silence, condemned your rashnefsand impudence. 
And indeed I know not whether I had rather you should seem 
void of all sense of shame in sending letters, and that your 
friends should be persons of more modesty and judgment, or 
that you should seem more modest than usual, and your con- 
duct be uncondemned by your friends. But supposing you had 
not, by your cruel outrages against the senate, cut yourself 
oft' for ever from all favour with it, what was done m that pro- 
vince upon which you could write to it with any manner of con- 
gratulation ? Was it the harafsing of Macedon? the shameful 
lofs of towns ? the plundering of our allies ? the laying waste 
their lands ? the fortifying Thefsalonica ? the blockade of our 
military causeway ? the destruction of our army, by the sword, 
by famine, by cold, and by pestilence? Your writing nothing 
to the senate shows only, that as you was more wicked in 
Rome than Gabinius, you was somewhat more modest in your 
province than he. For that rioter, born for his belly only, "and 
not for glory and honour, after having deprived the Roman 
knights in his province, and the farmers of the customs, united 
with us both in inclination and dignity, all of them of their 
fortunes, and some of them of their reputation and lives; af- 
ter having done nothing with his army, but plundered cities, 
laid waste lands, and pillaged houses ; had the impudence; 
(and indeed what is it he has not the impudence to do?) to pe- 
tition the senate, by letters, for a supplication. 

Sect. XVIII. Immortal Gods! and shalt thou, shall you, ye 
twin whirlpools and rocks of the state ! decry my fortune, and 
extol your own ? you who have borne the indelible marks of the 
foulest infamy, whilst such decrees of the senate were pafsed 
concerning me, even in my absence, such afsemblies were held, 
such commotions happened among all our municipal cities and 
colonics, such resolutions were made by the formers of the re- 
venue, by the colleges, and, in a word, by all ranks and con- 
ditions of men, as I not only .durst never have wished for, but 
could not even have conceived. Were I to see thee and thy 
colleague Gabinius fastened to a crofs, would the sight of your 
mangled bodies give me greater pleasure than I feel from the 
lofs of your reputation ? Nothing is to be deemed a punish- 
ment, which, by some accident or other, may happen even 
to the brave and virtuous. And this is the doctrine even of 
your men of pleasure among the Greeks, whom I wish you had 
heard, as they ought to have been heard ; you would never, 
in that case, have plunged into such, an abyfs of crimen. But 



393 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

audis in prabsaepibusj audis in stupris, audis in cibo et vino; 
sed dicunt ipsi, qui mail dolore, bona voluptate definiunt, sa- 
pientein, (*9) etiam si in Phalaridis tauro inclusus succencis ig- 
nibns torreatur, dicturum tamen suave illud else soscque ne tan- 
tutum quidem commoveri : tantam virtutis else vim voluerimt, 
ut non pofset unquam eise vir bonus non beatus ; qua? est igi- 
turpcena? quod supplicinin?* id mca sententia, quod accidere 
nemini potest, nisi nocenti ; suscepta fraus, impedita et op- 
preisa mens conscientia, bonorum odium, nota inusta a senatu, 
amifsio dignitatis. 

XIX. Nee mihi ille (>°) M. Regulus, quern Carthaginienses, 
resectis palpebris, illigatnm in machina vigilando necaverunt^ 
supplicio videtur affectus: nee C. Marius,. quern Italia servata 
ab illo, demersum in Mmturnensium paludibus ; Africa devicta 
ab eodem expulsum et naufragum vidit; ■ fortunae enim ista tela 
sunt, non culpae: supplicium autum est poena peccati ; neque 
vero ego si unquam vobis mala precarer, quod sacpe feci, in 
quo dii immortales measpreces audiverunt, morbum, aut mor- 
tem, aut cruciatum precarer. Thyestea ista exsecratio est 
poetae, vulgi amnios, non sapientum moventis : ( 3I ) Ut tu 
naufragio expufeus, uspiam saxisjixus aspen's, evisceratus latere 
penderes fut ait ille] saxa spargens tabo, sinie ' et sanguine atro. 
Non ferrem omnino moleste, si ita accidifset : sed id tamen efset 
humanum. ( ix ) M. Marcellus, qui ter consul fuit, summa vir- 

(29) Etiam si in Phalaridis tauro inclusus succensis ignibus torreatur.~l 
Phalaris was a cruel tyrant of Agrigentum, famous for shutting up men iu 
a brazen bull, and putting fire under it. This engine of cruelty was made 
by one Periilus, who thought it would be a welcome present to Phalaris ; 
and is said to have been ordered by the tyrant to be first shut into it, m 
order to prove his own work. 

(30) M. Regulus, quern Carthaginienses, resectis palpebris, illigatum in 
machina vigilando necaveru?it.l M. Attilius Regulus was consul in the ninth 
year of the first Punic war, and defeated the Carthaginians in the memo- 
rable sea-fight of Ecnomus; after which he made a descent upon Africa, 
and pushed-on his conquests with prodigious rapidity. But Xantippus, a 
commander of Greek mercenaries in the service of the Carthaginians, by 
his excellent advice and conduct, gave a wonderful turn to affairs in Africa 
totally defeated the Roman army, and took Regulus himself prisoner. 
The Carthaginians, however, bong vanquished in a sea-engagement oii . 
the coast of Africa, and having received a signal overthrow at land near 
Panormus, began to think seriously of an accommodation, and sent Re- 
gulus to Rome with some ambafsadors to negotiate a peace having first 
taken oath of him to return to Carthage, in case there should neither be 
peace ncr an exchange of prisoners. Upon his arrival at Rome, he ad- 
vised the senate to refuse the Carthaginian ambafsadors both peace and an 
exchange of prisoners, for which, at. his return into Africa, he was cruelly- 
put to death: Authors, however, are not agreed concerning the parti- 
cular kind of torment they made him undergo ; the most current opinion 
is, that they cut offer sewed back his eye-lids, a ud then bringing him out 
of a dark chmgeoD, exposed him to tire sun at mid-day; that after this* > 
they shut him up in a kind of chest or prefs, stuck' full on the inside with 
iron spikes, and there left him to die in torment. This account of the 
cruel revenge which the Carthaginians took of Regulus after his return to* 



you hear them in your stews; you heat therii at ur de* 

t-rics; you hear them in yburfe&sts, artel over your b< 
even tfyose who define evil by pain, and good by pleasure, <;ivc 
out that a wise man, though he were shut lip m the hull of 
Phalaris, and broiled with Haines applied to it, would still (U'- 
that his condition was agreeable, and' that he was not in 
ast moved: such, they allege, is the power of virtue, that 
it is rmpofsible for a gobd man not. to he happy. What then is 
pain r what is punishment? It is, in my opinion, what can hap- 
pen to none hut the guilty; premeditated villany ; the pangs 
and horrors of remorse ; the hatred of all the virtuous; a mark, 
of infamy indicted by the senate ; the lois of dignity. 

Sect. XIX. To me neither M. Reoulus, whom the Carthagi- 
nians, after having cut off his eye-lids, and shut him up bound 
IU a chest, killed by keeping him from sleep, seems to have suf- 
fered punishment ; nor C. Mariui, whom Italy, which he had 
saved, saw sunk in the marshes of Miuturme; and Africa, which 
he had subdued, saw banished and shipwrecked. For the 
the blows of fortune, not the consequences of guilt ; but punish- 
ment is suffering for crimes. Nor would I, were I to imprecate 
evils upon you, as I have often done*, when' the gods have heard 
me, pray for diseases, death, or tortures. That imprecation of 
Thyestes is only an art of the poet, to move the minds of the 
vulgar, not those of the wise : May you, after being shipwrecked, 
hang by your side, with your bowels dropping out, upon the flinty 
rocks, besmearing them with blood and gore. Had such a thing 
happened to you, I should not have been concerned at it ; but 
this is what may befal any man. M. Marcellus, who was thrice 
■consul, and eminent for his virtue, piety, and abilities in war, 
perished on the sea ; yet he still lives in the annals of fame, 
crowned with glory. Such a death is to be deemed an accident, 
not a penalty. What then is suffering? what is punishment? 
what are the pointed rocks? what is the crofs? Behold two com- 

Carthage, is found in many of the best Roman authors, and is not e» 
prefsry contradicted by any ancient writer; notwithstanding /his, Mr. 
ilooke, in the second volume of his Roman History, adduces some 
reasons against the truth of it ; which, he thinks, may excuse our incredu- 
lity, should we look upon it as a mere Action. 

(31) Ut tu naufragio cxfulsus.'] This is a pafsage from the Thyestes of 
Ennius. 

(32) M. Marcellus, qui ter consul fmtJ] This was not the famous Mar- 
cellus, who conquered Syracuse; but his grandson; who was shipwrecked 
in Africa, soon after the beginning of the third Funic war. Asconiu 

us an anecdote concerning him, which we shall here transcribe: ' Hie 
« autem Marcv!!u->, says At/cum stafuas sibi ac patri, itemque avo poneret 
1 in monumentia avi s'ui.ad honoris ctviitutis a\lem, subscripsit, II! 
1 celli novies Cofs, Fuerat aiitera avus truinquies, paler semel, ipse ter. ltd* 
1 que neque mentitus, et apnd impe: r is sai splendorem a 

C c 



394 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATIONES. 

tute, pietate, gloria militari, periit in mari: qui tamen obvirtir- 
tcm gloria et laude vivit ; in fortuna quadani est ilia mors non 
in pctma, putanda. Quae est igitur pcena? quod supplicium ? quae 
saxa ? quae cruees ? Ecce duos duces in provincii populi Rom, 
habere exercitus, appeliari imperatores ; horum alterum sic 
fuifse infirmatum conscientiascelerum etfraudum suarum,ut ex 
ea provincial, quae fuerit ex omnibus una maxime triumphalis, 
nulias sit ad senatum literas mittere ausus ; ex qua provincia. 
modo vir omni dignitate ornatifsimus L. Torquatus, magnis re- 
bus gestis, me referente, absens imperator est appellatus : unde 
his paucis annis Cn. Doiabellae, C. Curionis, M. Luculli,; justis- 
simos triumphos vidimus, ex ea, te imperatore, nuntius ad se- 
natum allatus estnullus ; ab altero allatoe literae, recitata?, relatum 
ad senatum. Dii immortales ! idne ego optarem, ut inimicus 
ineus, ea, qua nemo unquam, ignominia notaretur ? ut senatu-j 
is, qui in earn jam benigtiitatis consuetudinem venit, ut eos, qui 
bene rempublicam gefserint, novis honoribus afficiat, et numero 
dierum, et genere verborum ; hujus unius Uteris nuntiantibus 
non crederet? postulantibus denegaret? 

XX. His ego rebus pascor, his delect or,, his perfuror : quod de 
vobis hie ordo opinntur non secus, ad de teterrimis hostibus : 
quod vos equites Rom. quod casteri ordines, quod cuncta civitas 
odit : quod nemo bonus, nemo denique civis est, qui modo se 
civemefse meminerit. qui vos non oculisfugiat, auribus respuat, 
animo aspernetur, recordatione denique ipsa consulates vestri 
perhorrescat. Haec ego semper de vobis expetivi, ha?c optavi, 
hsec precatus sum ; plura etiam acciderunt, quam vellem ; nam 
ut amitteritis exercitum, nunquam, mehercule, optavi. Iliud 
etiam accidit prater optatum meum, sed valde ex voluntate : milii 
enim non venerat in mentem, furorem et insaniam optare vobis, 
in quam incidistis : atqui iuit optandum ; me tamen fugerat, 
deorum immortal! urn has else in impios et consceleratos pcenas 
certifsimas constitutas. Nolite enim putare, P. C. ut in scenii 
videtis, homines consceleratos impulsu deorum terreri furiarum 
taedis ardentibus : suaquemque fraus, suumfacinus, suiim scelus,. 
sua audaeia de sanitate ac mente deturbat; hae sunt impioruni 
fume, ha? tlammae, hae faces. Ego te non vecordem,. non furio- 
sum, non mente captum, ( 3J ) non tragico illo Oreste aut 



(33) Non fragitoillo Oreste aut Athamante de?nen1iorem.~\ Orestes was the 
son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. He is said to have killed his own 
mother, and /Egisthus, her adulterer, who had murdered his father. Atha- 
m.is was the soij of jEolus, and king of Thslsaly : he had two children by 
his wife Nephele, after whose death lie married lno,the daughter of Cadmus, 
who treated her step-children so ill., that Juno, to punish her,, made her 
husband run mad. 



cicero's orations. 395 

manders in the provinces of the Roman people, at the head of 
armies, with the title of emperors; j'et one of these was so 
struck with the sense of his guilt and crimes, that he did nut 
even dare to send a letter to the senate, from a province too, of 
all others the most fertile in triumphs. It is but lately that 
L. Torquatus, a man of the most distinguished merit, was, at 
my instance, saluted emperor from this province, on account 
of his glorious actions ; from it too, within these few years, wo 
have seen the well-won triumphs of Cn. Dolabella, C. Curio, 
and M. Lucullus; and yet from this province, during your com- 
mand in it, not so much as a mefsenger was sent to the senate. 
From Gabiriius letters were brought; they were read too, and a 
motion made upon them in the senate. Immortal gods ! could 
I even have wished my enemy to be marked with such infamy 
as none but himself ever suffered ? That the senate, who are 
now got into such a habit of generosity as to bestow new ho- 
nours on those who have conducted themselves well in the ad- 
ministration of public affairs, both by increasing the number of 
thanksgiving days, and by peculiar terms of respect; that the 
senate, I say, should not believe what was contained in the letters 
of this fellow alone ? should deny what he requested in them ? 

Sect. XX. What gives me the greatest pleasure, delight 
and satisfaction is, that this Order think no otherwise of you 
than they do of their most inveterate enemies ; that you are 
hated by the Roman knights, by the other orders, and by the 
whole state; that there is not a worthy man, not a single citi- 
zen, provided he remembers he is such, who^e eyes do not 
shun you, whose ears are not offended with the very mention 
of your name, whose soul does not abhor you, and who is not 
shocked even at the remembrance of your consulship. This is 
what I always wished might befai you, what I always desired, 
what I always prayed for. Nay, more has befallen you than I 
could have wished ; for that you should lose your army, I cer- 
tainly never wished: this too happened besides my wishes, 
though very agreeably to my inclination. For it did not enter 
into my thoughts to wish you should fall into tkat phrenzy and 
madnefs into which you did fall ; though this I should have 
wished for. But it had escaped me, that such is the punish- 
ment irrevocably ordained by the immortal gods against the 
impious and the guilty. For you must not imagine, conscript 
fathers, that the wicked, as you see in theatrical representations, 
are haunted by the blazing torches of furies, sent by the gods 
as instruments of their vengeance. It is personal villany, per- 
sonal guilt, personal crimes and presumption, that rob men of 
the use of reason and soundnefs of judgment. These are the 
furies, these the flames, these the torches of the wicked. Am 
not I to look upon you as a madman, as a fury, as one that has 

Cc 2 



39C> M. T. CICER0N1S ORATIONES* 

Athamante dernentiorem putcm, qui sis ausus prinaum facer© 
(nam id est caput), deiride paullo ante, Torquato, gravifsimo ct 
sanctifsimo viro piemente, con'iteri, te piwinciam Macedonian^ 
in quam tantum exercitum transportafses, sine ullo milite reli- 
quii'ser JVlitto de amiisa maxima parte exercitus : sit hoc infeli- 
citatis tune'; dimittendi vero exercitris quam potesaffere causam ; 
quam potestatcm habuisti? quam legem ? quod senatusconsul- 
turn? quod jus?, quod exemplum? quid est aliud furere, nisi 
non coguoseere homines, non cognoscere leges, non senatum ? 
lion civifcatem r cruentare comus suum leve est, major haec est 
vitae, famae, salutis suae vulneratio ; si familiam tuam dimisifses, 
quod ad neminem, nisi ad ipsium te, pertineret, aniici te tui 
constringendum putarent: presidium tu reipublicae, eustodiam 
provinciae, injufsu populi senatusque dimifsifses, si tuae mentis- 
compos fuiises ? 

XXI. Ecce tibi alter, effusa jan* maxima, praeda, quam ex for- 
tunis publicanorum, ex agris urbibusque sdciorum exhauserat,. 
cum partim ejus praedae profundae hbiclines devoraisent, partim 
nova quaedam et inaudita luxuries, partim etiam in illis locis, ubi 
omnia diripuit, emptiones, partim permutationes, ad hunc 'Jus- 
culani montem exstruendum, cum jam egeret, cum ilia ejus im- 
mensa et kitolerabilis aedificatio constitifset ; seipsum, fasces 
"suos, exercitum populi Roman!, numen interdictumque deorum 
immortalium, responsa sacerdotum, auctoritatem senatus, jufsa- 
populi, nomen ac dignitatem imperii ( 3+ ) regi iEgyptio vendi- 
dit ; cum fines provinciae tantos haberet, quantos voluerat, 
quantos optaverat, quantos mei capitis pretio periculoque erne- 
rat; his se tenere non potuit; exercitum eduxit ex Syria; qut 
licuit extra pro vinciam ? tribuit se mercenarium comitem regi 
Alexandrine; quid hoc turpius? iniEgyptum venit: signa con- 
iulit cum Alexandiinis; quando hoc bellum, aut hie ordo, aut; 
populus susceperat r cepit Alexandrian! ; quid aliud exspecta- 
mus a furore ejus 7 nisi ut ad senatuni tantis de rebus gestisliteras 
inittat? hie si mentis efset sure, nisi peenas patriae diisque im- 
mortalibus eas, quae gravifeimae sunt, furore atque insania pende- 



(34) Regi jEgypiio vendidit.~] Ptolemy, being driven out of his kingdom 
by his own subjects, on account of his tyrannical government, went to 
"Rome to beg the .assistance and protection of the senate. The Sibylline 
books vere consulted upon the occasion, and these absolutely prohibited 
the Romans from restoring an Egyptian prince by force of arms. Gabi- 
nius, however, tempted by Ptolemy's gold and the plunder of Egypt, and. 
encouraged also, as some authors say, by Pompey himself, undertook to 
replace him on the throne with his Syrian army ; which he executed with 
a high hand, and the destruction of all the king's enemies, in open deiianc'i 
of the authority of the senate, and the direction of the Sibyl, 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 397 

]ost the use of hie reason, as more frantic than Qrestes or Atha- 
iuas in the play, for having first dared (for that is the principal 
thing) to leave the province of Macedonia, into which yon had 
transported so great an army, without a soldier to defend it, 
and then not long ago to confefs this, when urged to it by Tor- 
(juatns, a man of the greatest weight and integrity ? I pals by 
your having lost the greatest part of your army ; let that be 
deemed your misfortune: but what reason can you give for 
for having dismifsed it? what authority, what law, what decree 
of the senate, what right, what precedent can you allege for 
this? what else is madnei's, but being ignorant of men, being- 
ignorant of laws, of the senate, of the constitution ? To mangle 
one's own body, is an inconsiderable degree of madnefs, in 
comparison of this mangling of life, of reputation and safety. 
Were you to difmifs your family, which belongs to yourself 
alone, your friends would think you deserved to be put under 
confinement: and had you been in your senses, would you 
have dismifsed the guards of the Roman people, the defence of 
the province, without the orders of the senate and people ? 

Sect. XXL But what did your other self? ' After having 
squandered that immense plunder which he had drawn from 
the officers of the revenue, from the lands and cities of our 
allies; after part of that plunder had been absorbed in the 
ai>yfs of his lusts, another part of it consumed by new and un- 
heard-of refinements in luxury, and part of it by the purchafes 
and alterations which he made in those places where he pulled 
down every thing to raise this Tusculan mount ; being now re- 
duced to poverty, and a stop put to that enormous and in- 
sufferable fabric, he sold himself, the badges of his office, the 
iirmy of the Roman people, the sacred prohibition of the im- 
mortal gods, the answer of their priests, the authority of the se- 
nate, the orders of the people, the renown and dignity of their 
empire, to the Egyptian king. Though the bounds of his pro- 
vince were enlarged according to his desires, according to his 
-wishes, according to the price and danger at which he has set 
my head, yet could he not confine himself to these. He 
brought his army out of Syria. What right had he to bring 
them out of their own province ? He enlisted himself under the 
king of Alexandria, as a mercenary attendant : what could be 
more infamous than this ? He came into Egypt ; he fought 
against the Alexandrians : when did either this order, or the 
people of Rome, undertake that war ? He took Alexandria : 
. what greater instance of madnefs can we expect he should be 
guilty of, unlefs it be this, that he should send letters to the se- 
nate with an account of his exploits? Had he been in his senses, 
had not his country and the immortal gods been avenged of him 
by the severest of all punishments, those of fury and madnefs, 

Cc3 



393 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ret; aufsus efset (mitto exire de provincia) educere exercitum, 
bcllum sua sponte gerere, in, regnum injufsu populi aut senatfrs 
accedere? quae cum plurimae leges veteres, turn ( iS ) lex Cornelia 
majestatis, Julia de pecuniis repetundis planifsime vetant ; sed 
haec omitto. Ille, si non acerrime fureret, auderet, quam pro- 
vinciam P. Lentulus, amicilsimus huic ordini, cum et auctoritate 
senatus, et sorte haberet, interposita religione, sine ulla dubita- 
tione deposuifset, earn sibi turn adsciscere; cum, etiamsi reli<no 
non impediret, mos ma jorum tamen, et exetnpla, et gravilsimae 
Jegiun pcenae vetarent? 

XXII. Sed quoniam fortunarum contentionem facere coepi- 
mus, de reditu Gabinii omittamus: quern et si sibi ipse praecidit, 
ego tamen, os ut videam hominis, exspecto. Tuum, si placet, 
reditum cum meo conferamus. Ac meus quidem is fuit, ut a. 
Rrundusio usque Romam agmen perpetuum totius Italiae vide- 
rem; neque enim regio fuit ulla, neque municipium, neque 
praefectura, aut colonia, ex qua non publice ad me venerint gra- 
tulatam. Quid dicam adventus meos? quid effusiones hominum 
ex oppidis? quid concursum ex agris patrum-familias cum con- 
jugibus ac liberis? quid eos dies, qui, quasi deorum immorta- 
lium festi atque solemnes, sunt apud omnes adventu meo redi- 
tuque celebrati ? unus ille dies mihi quidem immortalitatis 
instar fuit, quo in patriam^redii; cum senatum egrefsum vidi, 
-populumque Romanum universum ; cum mihi ipsa Roma prope 
convulsa sedibus suis ad complectendum conservatorem suum 
progredi visa est ; quae me ita accepit, ut non modo omnium 
generum, aetajum, ordinum omnes viri ac mulieres, 1 omnes 
fortunae ac loci ; sed etiam moenia ipsa viderentur, et tecta 
urbis, ac templa laetari. Me consequentibus diebus in ea ipsa 
domo, qua tu me expuleras, quam expilaras, quam incen- 
deras, pontifices, consules, patres conscripti collocaverunt : 
mihique, quod ante me nemini, pecunia publica aedificandam 
domura censuerunt. Habes reditum meiun ; confer nunc 
vicifsim tuum: quandoquidem, amifso exercitu, nihil incolume 
domum, praeter os illud pristinum tuum retulisti ; qui primum, 
qua veneris cum laureatis tuis lictoribus, quis scit ? quos tu 
Maeandros, dum omnes splitudines persequeris, quae diverticula 
flexionesque quaesisti ;' quod te municipium vidit? quis amicus 



(35) hex Cornelia majestatis.'] This law, the author of which was L. Cor- 
nelius Sylla, made it treason to lead an army out of a province, or to en- 
gage in a war without special orders, or to endeavour the ingratiating 
one's self so with the army as to 'make them ready to serve his particular 
iiiterest ■; and afsigned the punishment of aqu<e et ignis interdictio, to all 
tfcat should be convicted of any of these crimes. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. ?j ( JJ 

would he have dared, I do not say to leave his province, but to 
draw out bis army, to cany on war of himself, to advance into 
a .kingdom without orders from the senate or people ? all which 
are forbid in the mostexprefs terms, by many ancient laws, a* 
well as by the Cornelian law upon treason, ancj the Julian law 
upon extortion. But this I pals over. Had be not arrived at 
the height of madnefs, would he have dared to take to himself 
a province, which P. Leutulus, one of the best friends of this 
order, had, without any hesitation, quitted upon a principle of 
religion \ though both the authority of the senate, and the lots 
had bestowed it upon him ; a preceding which, if it had not 
been contrary to religion, was yet forbid by the practice of our 
ancestors, by numerous examples in the state, and by the se- 
verest penalties of our laws. 

Sect. XXII. But since we have begun to compare our for- 
tunes, let us say nothing concerning the return of Gabinius; 
which, though he himself has cut off, yet such is the impudence 
of the man, that I expect he will return. Let me, if you please, 
compare your return with mine. Now such was mine, that all 
the way from Brundusium to Rome, I beheld all Italy drawn 
out in one continued body ; nor was there a country, a muni- 
cipal town, a prefecture, a colony, which did not send a depu- 
tation to pay me their compliments. Need I mention my ap- 
proaches ? the crowds of people that came from the towns ? 
the concourse of masters of families, with their wives and chil- 
dren from the country ? and those days which, on my approach 
and return, were celebrated ail over Italy, as if they had been 
the festivals and solemnities of the immortal gods ? one day was 
worth an immortality to me, the day of my .return to my country, 
when I saw the senate and the whole Roman people come forth 
to meet me ; when Rome herself seemed to spring forward from 
her foundations, to embrace her deliverer. For such was the 
manner in which she received me, that not only men and 
women of all ranks, ages, and conditions, of every fortune, and 
of every place, but even the very walls, the dwellings and tem- 
ples of the city, seemed to wear the face of joy. In the fol- 
lowing days, the priests, the consuls, the conscript fathers, put 
me in pofseision of that very house from which you had driven 
me, which you had plundered, which you had set fire to ; and, 
what had never happened before, they decreed that my house 
should be rebuilt at the public charge. I have given you an 
account of my return ; compare it now, in your turn, with 
your own: when, after having lost your army, you brought 
nothing home entire, but your brazen front, that old compa- 
nion of yours. First of all, who knows which way you came 
with your laurel' d lictors? what bye -ways, what windings and 
turnings did you pursue, in your search after every solitude ? 

C c 4 



400 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

invitayit? quis hospes adspexit? non ne tibi nox crat pro die? 
non solitudo pro fregu^itiS, ? caupono pro oppido ? non utredire 
ex Macedonia nobilis imperator, sed ut mortuus infamis referri 
videretur ? Romam vero ipsam fcedavit adventus tuus. 

XXIII. O families non dicam Calpurni^p, sed Calventiae ; ne- 
que hu jus urbis, sed Placentini municipii ; n.eqne paterni generis, 
( J6 ) sed braccatse cognationis dedecus ! quemadmodum venisti & 
quis tibi, non dicam horum, aut civium cajterorum, sed tuorum 
legatorum obviam venit ? mecum enim turn L. Fiaccus, vir tua 
legatione indignifsimus, atque iis consiliis, ( 3 7) quibus mecum in 
consulatu meo conjunctus tint, ad conservandam rempublicam 
dignior, mecum fuit turn, cum te quidam non longe a porta 
cum lictoribus errantem visum efse narraret. Scio item virum 
fortem in primis, belli, ac rei militaris peritum, familiarem me- 
um, Q. Marcium, quorum tu legatorum prcelio imperator ap- 
pellatus eras, cum non longe abfuifses, adventu isto tuo domi 
luifse otiosum. Sed quid ego enumero, qui tibi obviam non ve- 
Berint? qui dico venifse pene neminem, ( 3 *) ne de officiosifsima 
quidem natione candidatorum, cum vulgo efsent et illo ipso, et 
multis ante diebus admoniti et rogati ; toguke lictoribus ad por- 
tam prassto fuerunt : quibus illi acceptis, sagula rejecerunt, et 
catervam imperatori suo novam preebuerunt ; sic iste a tanto ex- 
ercitu, tanta provincia, triennio post, Macedonicus imperator 
in urbem se intulit, ut nullius negotiatoris obscui'ifsimi reditus 
unquam faerit desertior ; in quo me tamen, qui efset pF^ratus 
ad se defendend.um, reprehendit ; cum ego Coeiimontana porta 
introifse dixifsem, sponsione me,, ni Esquilina introifset, homo 
promptifsimus lacefsivit: quasi vero id aut ego fcire debuerim, 
aut vestrum quiiquam audierit ; aut ad rem pertineat, qua tu 
porta introieris, modo ne triumphali ; quae parta Maceclonicis 
semper proconsulibus ante te patuit ; tu inventus es, qui con- 
sular] imperio proeditus ex Macedonia non tnumphares, 

XXIV. At audistis, P. conscripti, philosophi vocem; negavit 
se triumphi cupidum unquam fuifse. O scclus ! 6 pestis ! 
6 labes ! cum exstinguebas senatum, ' vendebas auctoritatem 

(36) Sed braccatce cog7wtionis dedecus.'] Cicero here means the Gauls,, 
from whom Piso was descended by the mother ; part of whose drefs was 
the braccce, a kind of trowsers. 

(37) Quibus mecum in consulatu meo conjunctus fuit. ,]This L. Fiaccus was 
praetor in Cicero's consulship, and performed no inconsiderable services 
to his country durkig Catiline's conspiracy; for which he received the 
thanks of the senate. 

(3S) Ne deofficiosifsima quidem natione candidatorum. .] Those who stood 
candidates for public honours, generally declared their pretensions about 
a vear before the election; all which time was spent in gaining and se- 
curing of friends. For this purpose, they used all the arts of popularity, 
jnakins; their circuits round the city very often ; and, in their walks, 
taM*ig the meanest persons by the hands, and talking to them in a fami- 
liar manner: whe;ice Cicero "here calls them, natio officipsifsima* 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 401 

what corporation saw you? what friend inv * 

host regarded you ? Did you not prefer the night to the day f 

being alone, to being iri company ? an inn to a eity? So i 

you did not seem to return from Maced< ious 

commander, but to be brought back from it like a P 

As for your arrival, it polluted Koine itself. 

•Sect. XXIII. Thou disgrace, not to the Calphurnian famil 

but even to the Calventian ! not to this city, but to the corpo- 
ration of Placentia! not to thy father's race, but to thy trou- 
sered alliance! In what manner didst thou come*? was th< 
one, I will not say of these, or our other citizens, but of thy 
own lieutenants, who came out to meet thee r Tor L. 1'iaccus, 
a man very unworthy of such a lieutenancy as }'ours, and more 
worthy of bearing a part in those measures for preserving the 
state, in which he was engaged with me during my consulate, 
was with me when somebody told us that yon was seen not far 
from the gate, strolling about with your lictors. I knew too 
that my Mend Q. Marcius, one of the bravest of nun, well 
skilled in military affairs, one of those lieutenants whose cou- 
rage in battle procured you the title of emperor, when you 
was not a great way from Rome, was at his own house doing 
nothing. But why should I reckon up those who did not come 
out to meet you I when scarce one of the officious tribe of can- 
didates met you, though they were all publicly apprised and 
invited that very day, and several days before. There were 
short' gowns ready for your lictors at the gate, which they 
exchanged for their cafsocks, and by this means gave a new 
face to their general's train. Thus a governor of Macedonia, 
with such an army, and such a province, conveyed himself in- 
to the city, after three years, in such a manner that no pedlar 
had ever a more private return. And yet this modest gentle- 
man, so well prepared for his defence, reproaches me on this 
head. After I had said that he entered by the Gclimontane 
gate, like a man of spirit, he offered to lay that lie entered by 
the Esquiline ; as if it had been either incumbent on me to 
know this, as if any of you had heard of it, or as if it had 
been of any consequence in the present affair, through what 
gate you entered, if it was not through the Triumphal; a gate 
which, before you, was always open to Macedonian proconsuls. 
You are the only person with consular authority, who, upon 
your return from Macedonia, have not been honoured with a 
triumph. 

Sect. XXIV. But, conscript fathers, it was a philosopher you 
heard speak. He denies that he had ever any paision for a triumph. 
Thou execrable wretch, thou plague, thou foul reproach of this 
state! while you was destroying the senate, exposing to sale the 



402 T. M. CI.CERONIS ORATIONES. 

hujus ordinis, addicebas tribune pleb. consulatum tuum, rem- 
pub. evertebas, prodebas caput et salutem meam una mercede 
provinciae : si triumphum non cupiebas, cujus tandem rei te 
cupiditate arsifse defendes? saepe enim vidi, qui et mihi, et 
eaeteris eupidiores provincial viderentur; triumphi nomine te- 
gere atque velare cupiditatem suam ; hoc modo D. Silanus con^ 
sul in hoc ordine, hoc meus etiam collega dicebat ; neque enim 
quisquam potest exercitum cupere, aperteque petere, ut non 
pi etexut cupiditatem triumphi. Quod si te senatus, si populus 
Itonianus, aut non appetentem, aut etiam recusantem, hel- 
ium suscipere, exercitum ducere coegifset; tamen erat angusti 
animi atque demifsi, justi triumphi honorem atque dignitatem 
contemnere ; nam, ut levitatis est, inanem aucupari rumorem, 
et crimes umbras etiam falsae glorijE consectari: sic levis est 
animi, lucem splendore.ni que fugientis, justam gloriam, qui est 
fructus verae virtutis bonestifsimus, repudiare. Cum verd, 
noil modo non postulante atque cogente, sed invito atque op- 
prefso fenatu, non modo nullo populi Romani studio, sed 
nuiio ferente suffragium libero, provincia tibi ista manupretium 
fuerit non eversae per te, sed perditae civitatis : cumque om- 
nium tuorum scelerum haec pactio exstiterit, ut si totam rem- 
publicam nefariis latronibus tradidifses, Macedonia, tibi ob 
earn rem, quibus tu finibus velles, redderetur : cum exhaurie- 
basaerarium, cum orbabas Italiam juventute, cum mare vas- 
iifsimum hieme transibas; si triumphum contemnebas, qua? te, 
pracdo amentifsime, nisi praedae ac rapinarum cupiditas tarn 
caeca rapiebat ■? Non est integrum Cn. Pompeio consiiio jam 
uti tuo ? erravit enim ; non gustarat istam tuam philosophiam ; 
ten* jam homo stultus triumphavit. Crafse, pudet me tui: quid 
est quod confecto per te formidolosifsimo beilo, coronam illam 
Jauream tibi tantopere decerni volueris a senatu ? P. Servili, 
Q. Metelle, C. Curio, P. Afrkane, cur non hunc audistis tarn 
doctum hominem, tarn eruditum, prius quam in istum e'rro'nem 
induceremini ? C. ipsi Pontino, necefsario meo, jam non est in- 
tegrum : rcligionibus enim susceptis impeditur. O stultus Ca- 
inillos, Curios, Fabr.icios, Calatinos, Scipiones, Marcellos, 
Maximos! 6 amentem Paullum! rusticum Marium ! ( 3 9) nullius 
consilii patres horuni amborum consulum, qui triumpharint ! 

XXV. Sed quoniam prarterita mutare non poisumus, quid 
cefsat hie homuilus ex argil la et luto fictus, Epicureus, dare 
hajc praxlara pracepta sapientiae clariisimo et sum mo impera- 
tori genero suo ? fertur ille vir, mihi crede, gloria: flagrat, ar- 



(39) Nullius concilii f aires isformn amborum consulum, qui triumpha- 
rint.'] This oration was made in the second consulship of Pompey and 
Crafsus; both whose fathers had obtained the honour of a triumph ; Pcm- 
pev's for his victory over the Picentes, Craisus'sfor that over the Spaniards. 



CICERO S ORlATIONS. 403 

authority of this order, hiring out your consulate to a tribune of 
the people, subverting the state, betraying my life and safety, 
all for the sake of a province; if you did not aspire after a 
triumph, with what pafsion will you pretend that you was 
animated ? For I have often seen men, who appeared both to 
me and to others too fond of a province, cover and conceal 
their ambition with the specious name of a triumph. It was 
thus that D. Silanus, when consul, and my colleague too, used 
to talk in this afsembly ; and no person indeed can desire the 
command of an army, and openly solicit it, without making his 
desire of a triumph a colour for his ambition. Supposing the 
senate and people of Rome had obliged you to take the com- 
mand of an army, without your desiring it, nay when you de- 
clined going to the war, it would still have discovered a narrow 
and abject spirit, to despise the honour and dignity of a just 
triumph. For as it is a proof of levity to hunt after empty ap- 
plause, and to pursue every shadow of false glory, so it shows a 
mean spirit, that shuns bright renown, to refuse genuine glory, 
which is the noblest reward of real virtue. But when the pro- 
vince was bestowed upon you as the wages, not of having un- 
hinged, but of having ruined the state, so far from being desired 
and obliged by the senate, that the senate was forced to give way 
to it; so far from being solicited by the Roman people, that not 
a free suffrage w r as given in your favour; when this was the 
stipulated reward of all your crimes, that if you would deliver 
the whole commonwealth into the hands of infamous robbers, 
you should have Macedonia adjudgeoL to you, with whatever 
bounds you pleased to set to it; when you drained the treasury, 
stripped Italy of her youth, pafsed a great extent of sea in the 
winter-time, if all this while you slighted a triumph, what blind 
pafsion, frantic ruffian ! hurried you on, if it was not a pafsion 
for rapine and plunder? Cn. Pompeius is not now at liberty to 
follow your advice ; for he has erred. He had no relish for your 
philosophy ; foolish man ! he has already triumphed three times. 
Crafeus, I blush for you; after having finished a most formidable 
war, what made you so very desirous of having a laurel crown 
decreed you by the senate? P. Servilius, Q.. Metellus, C. Curio, 
P. Africanus, why did you not listen to this very knowing and 
learned gentleman, before you suffered yourselves to be thus 
seduced? Even my friend, C. Pontinus, is now at liberty, 
having begun the religious rites. Foolish Camilli, Curii, 
Fabricii, Calatini, Scipiones, Marcelli, Maximi! silly Paulus ! 
stupid Marius ! what ignorance it showed in the fathers of both- 
these our consuls to triumph ! 

Sect. XXV. But since we cannot alter what is past, why doe?, 
not this Epicurean dwarf, this composition of loam and clay, 
ffive these fine precepts of philosophy to his son-in-law, that 



404 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. " 

dct cupidity justi et niagni triumphi ; non didicit eadem ista, 
quae tu ; mitte ad eum libellum ; et si jam ipse coram congredi 
poteris, meditare, quibus verbis incensam illius cupiditatem com- 
pvimas atque restinguas; valebis apud hominem voiitantem 
gloriae cupiditate, vir moderatus et constans, apud indoctum 
eruditus, apud generum socer; dices enim, ut es homo facetus, 
ad persuadcndum concinnus, perfectus, politus eschola: quid 
est, Caesar, quod te supplicationes toties dec/etas, tot dierum, 
tantopere delectent? in quibus, homines errore duqnntur : quas 
dii negligunt; qui, ut noster ille divinus dixit Epicurus, neque 
propitii cuiquam efse solent, neque irati. Nen facies fidem 
scilicet, cum haec disputabis : tibi enim et efse, et fuifse deos 
videbis iratos ; vertes te ad alteram scholam : difseres de tri- 
nmpho. Quid tandem habet iste currus ? quid vincti ante cur- 
rum duces ? quid simulacra oppidorum ? quid aurum ? quid 
argentum ? quid legati in equis et tribuni ? quid clamor mi- 
litum ? quid tota ilia pompa ? inania sunt ista, mini crede, 
delectamenta pene puerorum, captare plausus, vehi per ur- 
bem, conspici velle, quibus ex rebus, nihil est quod solidum 
tenere, nihil quod referre ad voluptatem corporis pofsis ; quin 
tu me vides, qui ex qua provincia, T\ Flkminius, L. Paulius, 
Q. Metellus, T. Didius, innumerabiles alii, levi cupiditate 
commoti triumph arunt, ex ea sic redii, ut ad portam Esquili- 
nam, Macedonicam lauream conculcarim ; ipse cum homini- 
bus quindecim male vestitis ad portam Caelimontanam sitiens 
perve'nerim : quo in loco mihi libertus, praeclaro imperatori 
idomum ex hac die biduo* nte conduxerat : quae vacua si non 
f'uifset, in campo Marti o mihi tabernaculum collocafsem ; 
rmmmus interea mihi, Caesar, neglectis ferculis triumphali- 
bus, domi mariet et manebit ; ( 4 °) rationes ad aerarium retuli 
continue ? sicut tua lex jubebat : neque alia ulla in re legi tuae 
parni, quas rationes si cognoris, intelliges nemini plus, quam 
mihi literas profuifse : ita enim sunt perscriptae scite et literate, 
ut scriba, ad aerarium qui eas retulit, perscriptis rationibus se- 
cum ipse caput sinistra manu perfricans commurmuratussit. Ratio 



■ (40) Rationes ad dcrarium retuli continuo, stent tua lex jubebat. ~\ C Julius 
Caesar made a law, A. U. 691, whereby governors, at the expiration of 
their office, were obliged to leave 'the scheme of their accounts in two 
cities of their provinces, and, upon their arrival at Rome, to deliver in a 
copy of the said accounts at the public treasury. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 405 



<rreat and renowned commander ? Believe me, that gentleman 
is influenced by glory ; he is hated, lie is fired with the desire 
of a just and noble triumph, lie has not received tbe same 
lefsoiis that you have done. Send him your instructions in 
writing. But in the mean time,,.in case you should happen to 
meet with him, consider what words you must mala; use of, to 
stifle and extinguish the flames of his ambition. You, who are 
a man of moderation and steadinefs, will prevail over one car- 
ried about on the wings of ambition ; his ignorance will give 
way to your learning, and the son-in-law will yield to his fa- 
ther. For, as you are a man of pleasantry, have a graceful 
manner of persuading, and are just come from the schools tho- 
roughly accomplished and polite, you will say to him, Pray, 
Caesar, what makes you so highly delighted with thanksgivings, 
so often decreed, and for so many days? Mankind are cer- 
tainly in an error as to this; these things are what the gods neg- 
lect; for they, as our divine Epicurus says, are neither favour- 
able to, nor angry with any one. You will never have it in 
your power to convince upon this head; for you shall see that 
the gods both have been, and are still angry with yourself. Ac- 
cordingly you will pafs from this to another topic, and talk of a 
triumph. Now, after all, what is there in that chariot? in 
those princes led before it in chains ? in those representations 
of towns? What is there in that gold ? in that silver ? in those 
lieutenants and tribunes on horseback? in those shouts of the 
soldiers ? what in all that pomp ? Believe me, the whole is va- 
nity ; all that catching at the acclamations of the people, being 
carried in procefsion through the streets, and gazed at by the 
mob, are scarce amusements for school-boys: there is nothing- 
solid in them, nothing that can contribute to the pleasure of 
the senses. T. Flaminius, L. Paulus, Q. Metellus, T. Di- 
dius, and a great many more, carried away by a silly ambi- 
tion, triumphed upon their return, from this province; but my 
return, you see, was of a very different kind. When 1 came 
to the Esquiline gate, I trode under foot the Macedonian lau- 
rel ; with fifteen ragged attendants, I came, and very dry in- 
deed I was, to the Caelimontane gate, where one of my freed- 
men had hired a house for me, as renowned a commander as I 
was, only two days before; and if that house had not hap T 
pened to be empty, I should have pitched my tent in the field 
of Mars. In the mean time, Caesar, despising all the pagean- 
try of a triumph, I have and shall have money lying for me at 
home. I immediately gave in my accounts to the treasury, -ac- 
cording to your law; and it was the only thing wherein I 
obeyed that law : which accounts if you look into, you will se< 
that no person has profited more by arithmetic, than myself; 
for they are wrote in so nice and masterly a manner, that the 
clerk, who carried them to the treasury, after having registered 



406 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

(fuidem licrcle aparet> argentum *'%A°". Hac tu oratione non du- 
bito quin ilium jam ascendentem in currum pofsis revocare. 

XXVI. O tenebra?, 6 Iotum, 6 sordes, 6 paterni generis ob- 
lite, materni vix memor ! ita nescio quid istue fractum, humile, 
demifsum, sordidum, inferius etiam est, quam ut Mediolanensi 
pracone, avo tuo dignum else videatur. L. Cratsus homo sa- 
pientifsimus nostrae civitatis, specuiis prope scrutatus est Alpes : 
ut, ubi hostis non erat, ibi triumphi causam aliquam quaereret. 
( 4I ) Eadem cupiditate vir summo ingenio praditus, C. Cotta, 
nullo certo hoste, flagravit ; corum neuter triumphavit, quod 
alteri ilium honorem collega, alteri mors ademit. Irrisa est 
abs te paullo ante M.i Pisonis eupiditas triumphandi, a qua te 
longe dixisti abhorrere ; qui etiamsi minus magnum bellum gef- 
serat, ut abs te dictum est, tamen istum honorem contemnendum 
npn putavit. Tu eruditior quam Piso, prudentior quam Cotta^ 
abundantior consilio, ingenio, sapientia quam Crafsus, ea con- 
temnis, qua? illi idiota, ut te appellas, praclara duxerunt. 
Quod si reprehendis, quod cupidi laurea fuerint, cum bella 
aut parva, aut nulla gegitsent ; tu, tantis nationibus subactis, 
tantis rebus gestis, mimme fructum laborum tuorum, pramia 
periculorum, virtutis insignia contemnere debuisti ; neque vero 
contempsisti, ( 42 ) licet sis Themista sapientior, si os tuum fer- 
reum senatus convicio verberari noluisti. Jam vides (quando- 
quidem ita mihimet fui inimicus, ut me tecum compararem) et 
degrefsum meum, et absentiam, et reditum ita longe tuoprsesti- 
tifse, ut mihi ilia omnia immortalem gloriam dederint, tibi sem- 
piternam turpitudinem inrlixerint. Nunc etiam in hac quoti- 
diana, afsidua, urbanaque vita splendorem tuum, gratiam, cele- 
britatem domesticam, operam rorensem, consilium, auxilium, 
auctoritatem, sententiam senatoriam nobis, aut, ut veriusdicam, 
cuiquam es infimo ac desperatifsimo antelatarus ? 

XXVII. Age, senatus odit te, quod eum tu facere jure con- 
cedis, affiictorem et perditorem non modo dignitatis et auctori- 
tatis, sed omnino ordinis ac nominis sui : vedere equites Romani 
non pofsunt, quo ex ordine vir prastantiisimus, L. iElius est, 



(41) Eddern cupiditate vir summo. ivgenio prcedilus C. Cotta.~\ Cicero 
makes frequent mention of this Cotta, in his Dialogue De Oratore. We 
are told by Asconius, that after the senate had decreed him a triumph, he 
died the day before it was to be celebrated, of the breaking out of a 
wound which he had received several years before. 

(42) Licet sis Themista sapientior. .] This Themista, according to Laer- 
tius, was the wife of one Leonteus, and a very learned lady: she was co- 
temporary with Epicurus, and a great admirer of his philosophy. 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. 407" 

them, scratching his head with his left hand, muttered to him- 
self, The account is here sure enough, but the cash is gfirk . 
this speech, I make no doubt, but you will be able to stop 
your son-in-law, even though lie were mounting his car. 

Sect. XXVI. Thou mean, filthy, dirty wretch, who hast for- 
got thy father's family, and scarce rememberest that of thy 
mother! There is something in thee, I know not what, so k>w f 
so abject, so worthlefs, so sordid, that thou art a reproach even, 
to thy grandfather, who was a common crycr at Milan. L. 
Crafsus, a man of the greatest wisdom in our state, traversed 
almost every foot of the Alps with his javOhns^ that he might 
find some subject for a triumph in a place where he could meet 
with no enemy. The same pafsion fired C. Cotta, a man of 
the most distinguished abilities, though without any declared 
enemy to wage war with. Neither Cotta nor Crafsus triumphed, 
the one being deprived of that honour by his colleague, the 
other by death. You laughed not long ago at M. Piso's pafsion 
for a triumph, a pafsion, you said, very different from what 
you was animated with y but although Piso carried on an incon- 
siderable war, as you have told us, yet he did not think that 
honour contemptible. You who have more learning than Piso, 
more understanding than Cotta, a greater share of abilities, 
wisdom and genius than Crafsus, despise those things, which 
those idiots, as you call them, deemed glorious. But though 
you blame them for having been ambitious of laurels, when they 
had conducted either no wars at all, or very inconsiderable ones ; 
yet you who have subdued such powerful nations, and per- 
formed such mighty exploits, ought not to have slighted the 
fruits of your toils, the rewards of your dangers, the badges of 
your valour : nor did you slight them indeed, though wiser than* 
Themista; you was unwilling to have your brazen front battered 
with the reproaches of the senate. You see now, since I have 
been so far my own enemy as to compare myself with you, that 
my departure, my absence and return so far surpafsed yours, 
that I derived immortal glory from mine, and you lasting in- 
famy from yours. And now, as to our daily and constant man- 
ner of living in town, will you take upon you to prefer your 
splendour, your interest, the number of your clients, your prac- 
tice at the bar, your advice, your afsistance, your authority, 
your weight in the senate, to mine ; or, to speak more pro- 
perly to those of the meanest and most desperate man living ? 

Sect. XXVII. To begin then ; the senate detest you, and just- 
ly, as you yourself allow, since you have not only subverted and 
destroyed its dignity and. authority, but its very name and 
order. The Roman knights can't bear the sight of you, since 
in your consulship, L. JElias, the most illustrious man of that 



40S M; t. CICERONIS ORATIONES* 

te consulc relcgatus : plebs Romana perditum cupit, in cujus tii 
infamiam ca quae per latrones et per servos de me egeras, con- 
tuiisti : Italia cuncta exsecratur, cujus idem tu superbifsime de- 
creta et pieces repudiasti. Fac hujus odii tanti ac tam universi 
periculum, si audes. ( 43 ) Instant post hominum memoriam ap^ 
paratifsimi magnificentifsimique ludi, quales non modo nun- 
quam fuerunt, sed ne qaomodo fieri quidem postbac pofsint, 
pofsum alio pacto suspicari. Da te populo, committe lu-dis. 
Sibilum metuis? nbi sunt vestra^schola? ? ne acclametur ? ne id 
quidem est curare philosopbi : manus tibi ne afFerantur, times ; 
dolor enitn est malum, m clisputas : existimatio, dedeeus, infa- 
mia, turpitude, verba sunt atque ineptise : sed de hoc non du- 
bito; nam non audebit accedere ad ludos ; convivium publicum 
non dignitatis causa inibit (nisi forte> ut cum P. Clodio, hoc est,, 
cum armoribus suis comet) sed plane animi sui causa ; ludos 
nobis rdiotis relinquet ; solet enim, in disputationibus suis, ocu- 
lorum et aurium delectationi abdominis voluptates anteferre ; 
nam quod vobis iste tantummodo improbus, crudelis olfon fu- 
runculus, nunc vero etiam rapax, quod sordidus, quod contumax 
quod superbus,quod tallax,quod perfidiosus, quod impudens,quod 
audax efse videatur: t nihil scitote else luxuriosius, nihil libidi- 
nosius, nihil protervius, nihil nequius. Luxuriam autem in isto 
nolite hanc cogitare ; est enim qusedam, quanquam omnis est 
vitidsa atque turpis, tamcn ingenuo ac libero dignior. Nihil 
apud nunc lautum, nihil elegans, nihil exquisitum, (laudibo 
inimicum) ne magnopere quidem quidquam, prseter libi- 
dines, sumptuosum ; torcuma nullum: maximi calices ; et 
hi, ne contemnere suos vjdeatur, Placentini ; extructa men- 
sa, non conchyliis, aut piscibus, sed muha carne subran- 
cida ; servi ^ordidati ministrant:, non nulli etiam senes : idem 
eoquus, idem atriensis:' pistor domi nullus, nulla cellar 
]>axiis et vlnum a propola, atque de cupa: Graeci stipati, 
( 44 ) quini in lectulis, same, plures: ipse solus: ( 4S ) bibitur 

(43) Instant post ho?ni?ium memoriam apparatifsimi ?nagnrficeritifsimique 
ludiA The shows with which Pcmpey entertained the people at the dedi- 
cation of t hat grand theatre,,which he "built at his own charge for the use and 
ornament of the city, are here referred to. According to the accounts we 
have of them, by Roman authors, they were the most magnificent that had 
ever been exhibited in Rome. In the theatre were stage-plays, prizes of 
music, wrestling, and all kinds of bodily exercises : in the circus, hoi Ho- 
races, and huntingb of wild beasts, for five days succefsively, in which five 
hundred lions weee killed, and on the last day twenty elephants; whose 
lamentable howling, when mortally wounded, Pliny and Dio tell us raised 
such a commiseration in the multitude, from a vulgar notion of their great 
sense and love to man, that it destroyed the whole diversion of the show, 
and drew curses on Fompey himself, for being' the author of so much 
cruelty. So true it is, what Cicero, in his Offices, observes of this kind of 
prodigality, that there is no real dignity or lafiing honour in it; that it 
satiates while it pleases, and is forgotten as soon as it is o 

(44) Quini in leclulis, sccpe plures. .] The usual number in abed was three; 
sometimes indeed there were four, but this hap p • seldom: so that 



• CICERo's ORATIONS, j 400 

Order, was banished : the commons of Rome wish yonr utter 
ruin, for you made them fall under the infamy of what you did 
against me by means of slaves and robbers: all Italy curses you, 
for having-, with the utmost arrogance, rejected their decrees 
and intreaties. Make trial, if you dare, of so great and uni- 
versal a hatred. Very soon will be celebrated the most splendid 
and magnificent games in the memory of man, sued as not only 
have never heretofore been exhibited, but such as, I firmly be- 
lieve, never will hereafter. Show yourself to the people; trust 
yourself in the theatre. Are you afraid of being bilked ? what's 
become of your philosophy ? Do you fear being clapped ? that's 
below the regard of a philosopher, surely. You are afraid they 
should lay hands upon you ; for, according to your philosophy, 
pain is an evd ; as for reputation, shame, infamy, disgrace, they 
-e only empty words: but I am confident he will not dare be 
present at the games. Nor will he make his appearance at the 
public entertainment, for the sake of the honour that attends it, 
unlefs perhaps he come to sup with P. Clodius, I mean, with 
his dear companions, but merely for his diversion. The games 
he'll leave to us idiots ; for, in his disputations, he is wont to 
prefer the pleasures of the belly to whatever gratifies the eyes 
and ears. For whereas you formerly thought him only a knavish, 
cruel pick-pocket, and now consider him as a rapacious, sordid, 
obstinate, haughty, deceitful, perfidious, impudent and daring; 
you must know, besides, that there is not a more luxurious, lust- 
ful, worthlefs, detestable being on earth. Don't imagine, how- 
ever, that his luxury has any thing of elegance in it; for though 
all luxury is base and dishonourable, yet there is a certain species 
of it more becoming a man of spirit and a gentleman. There is 
nothing splendid about him, nothing elegant, nothing fine; and, 
let me commend my enemy, he is expensive in nothing but in 
his lusts. There is not a piece of chased plate in his house ; his 
dishes are of the largest size, and that he may'nt seem to slight his 
countrymen, they are Placentine ware: bistable is covered, not 
with delicate fishes of different kinds, but with plenty of salt 
stinking meat: the servants who wait upon him are all shabby 
fellows, and some of them old ones ; one person is both cook 
and porter : there is not a baker in his house, nor a cellar in it; 
his bread and his wine are bought from the chandler's shop and 
the tavern: his Greek guests are Crowded together, five, some- 
simes more, in one of his little beds, while he has one wholly 

what is mentioned in this pafsage was reckoned extremely mean and in- 
elegant. 

(45) Bibitur usque eo, durti desotio ministretur.'] It is not easy to ascertain 
the meaning of this pafsage, upon which the commentators are divided. 
Instead of de solio, some are for reading de dolio. * Bibitur tamdiu/ savS 
Ernestus, * donee vinum defusum et vetustum non suppetat arriplius, sed 
* etiam vinum recens, doliare, ministretur.' 

Dd 



410 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONEfr. 

usque eo, dnm de solio ministretur : ( 46 ) ubi galli cantum audi^ 
vit, avum suum revixifse puta't; mensam tolli jubet. 

XXVIII. Dicet aliquis ; unde tibi haee nota sunt? non, meher- 
cule, co'ntumeliae causa describam quemquam, praesertim inge- 
niosum homineiij, at que" eruditum, cui generi else ege- iratus, 
ne, si cupiam, quideni pofsum. (* 7 ) Est quidem Grsecus, qui 
cum isto vivit, homo, vere' ut dicam (sic e'nim cognovi) huma- 
nus sed tamdiu/quamdiu-cum aliis est, aut ipse secum; is cum 
istuiri adolescentcm jam turn euro hac diis irata fronte vidiiset^ 
non fugit ejus amicitiam, cum efset praesertim appetitus: dedit 
se in consuetudinem, sic ut prorsus una viveret, nee fere ab 
isto unquam discejderet. Non apud indoctos, sed, ut ego arbi- 
tror, in hominum eruditifsimorum et humanifsimorum ecetu lo-^ 
quor; audistis prefecto dici, ( 4b ) philosopher Epicureos, omnes 
res, quae sunt homini expetendae, voluptate metiri : recte an 
secus, nihil ad nos ; aut si ad nos, nihil ad hoc tempus ; sed ta- 
meniubricum genus orationis adolescenti non aciiter inteliigenti' 
est saepe praeceps. Itaque admifsarius iste, simulatque audivit 
a, philosopho voluptatem tantopere laudari 5 nihil expiseatus 
est : sic suos sensus voluptarios omnes incitavit, sic ad illius hane 
orationem adhinniit, ut non magistrum virtutis, sed auctorem 
libidinis a se ilium inventum arbitaretur. Grsecus primo distin- 
gue re, atque dividere. ilia, quemadmodum dicerentur ; iste 
claudus (quomodo aiunt) pilam retinere, quod acceperat testi- 
ficari, tabulas obsignare velle, Epicurum disertum decernere ; 
{ A9 ) et tamen dictum, ut opinor, se nullum bonum intelligere 
pofse, demptis corporis voluptatibus. Quid multa? Graecus 
facilis, et valde venustus nimis pugnax contra senatorem populi 
Romani efse noluit. 

XXIX. Estautem hic,de quoloqiior, non philosophia solum, sed 
etiam Uteris, quod fere caeteros Epicureos negligere dic'unt, per- 
politus. Poema porro facit ita festivum, ita concinnum, ita ele- 
gans, nihil ut fieri poisit argutius ; in quo reprehendateum licet, si 
qui volet, modo leviter, non ut impurum, non ut improbum, non 



(46) Ubi galli cemtum audivit, avian suum revixifse putat.~\ This is a pun 
upon the word Callus ; Piso's grandfather being a Gaul. 

(47) Est quidam Grcecus, qui cum isto vivit.'] The name of this Greek was 
Philodemus, an Epicurean philosopher: he is mentioned by Cicero, in his 
second book Dejinibus, as a man of great worth and learning. 

(48) Phitosophos Epicureos omnes res, qui? sunt homini expetendee volaptate 
■metiri.'] The Epicureans held pleasure to be the chief good of man, and 
death the extinction of his being: so that they placed their happinefs in 
the secure enjoyment. of a pleasurable life; esteeming virtue on no other 
account, than as it was a handmaid to pleasure, and helped to insure the 
pofsefsion of it, by preserving health and conciliating friends. Their wise 
man accordingly had no other dutv. but to provide for his own ease, to 
decline all struggles, to retire from public affairs, and to imitate the life of 
their gods, by pafsjng his days in a calm, contemplative, undisturbed re- 
pose, in the midst of rural shades and pleasant gardens, 



CICERO^ ORATIONS. 4U 

to himself: they drink as long as he serves them from the upper 
couch ; when he hears the cock crow, he thinks his grandfather 
has risen from the dead, and orders the table to be removed. 

Sect. XXVIII. It will be asked, perhaps, how came you to 
know this ? Why, trtjly, I will draw a Character of no person 

for the sake of abuse, especially of a man of genius and 1 ear nil 
for such, were I ever no willing, 1 cannot hate. There Jives 
with this wretch a certain Greek, who, to speak the truth, is 
an ingenious man, for. I know him to he so ; hut he shows him- 
self such only when with other people than him, or when by 
himself. This person happening to see Piso, when a young- 
man, with that severity of aspect which he wore even then, did 
not decline his friendship, especially as Piso courted him, but 
ran into an intimacy with him in such a manner that they lived 
together, and were almost inseparable. lam not now speaking 
before illiterate persons, but before an afsembly which I know 
to be composed of men of the greatest learning and politeneis. 
The Epicurean philosophers then, you must have heard, mea- 
sure every thing which ought to be the object of human wishes, 
by pleasure; whether justly or not, does not concern us; or 7 
if it does, is nothing to the present purpose: yet such a loose 
ambiguous way of talking is often very pernicious to young 
persons, who have not the nicest discernment. Accordingly this 
stallion, as soon as he heard pleasure so highly commended by 
a philosopher, enquired no farther ; but gave such a loose to 
every sensual appetite, and was so tickled with his manner of 
speaking, that he thought he had found in him, not a director 
of his morals, but an encourager of his lusts. Upon this the 
Greek began, by means of divisions and distinctions, to show 
him in what sense these maxims were to be taken. But his lame 
pupil having once caught the ball, as we say, would not quit it ; 
he took witnefses, and sealed up their depositions, that Epicurus 
exprefsly declared, there was no real good remaining, if bodily 
pleasures were taken away. In short, the good-natured, complai- 
sant Greek, would not be too obstinate against a Roman senator. 

Sect. XXIX. But the person I am speaking of is not only 
an excellent philosopher, but has likewise a great deal of learn- 
ing ; which, in general, the Epicureans are said to neglect. 
lie has wrote a poem too, which is so pretty, so full of elegance 
and humour, that nothing can be more witty and ingenious. If 



(49) Et tamen dictum o pi nor. ~\ This pafsage is very obscure ; and the 
commentators, though they have offered several conjectures and emen- 
dations in order to clear it up, have left it as obscure as ever. We have 
nothing satisfactory to offer upon it, and must therefore leave our readers 
to make their best of it, 

D d 2 



412 M. T~. CICSRONIS ■ ORATIONES^ 

utaudacem, sed ut Graeculum, ut afsentatorem, ut • poetam 2* 
devenit, aut potius incidit in istum ebdem deceptus supercii'io 
Grapcus atque advena, quo tarn sapiens et tanta civitas ;revo- 
care se non poterat, famiiiaritate implicates : et simul iiiconstan- 
tiaj famam verebatur : rogatus, invitatus, coactus, ita multa ad 
istum, de isto quoque, scripsit, ut omnes hominis libidines 5 
omnia stupra, omnia/ ccenarum conviviorumque genera, adnl- 
teria denique ejus delicatifsimis versibus exprefsent; in quibus 
si quis velit, pofsit istius tanquam in speculo vitam intueri : 
ex quibus multa a multus lecta et- audita recitarem, nisi vere- 
rer ne hoe ipsum genus orationis, quo nunc utor, ab hujusloci 
more abhorreret : et simul de ipso qui scripsit,, detrahi nihil 
volo: qui, si fuiiset in discipulo comparando meliore fortuna,. 
fortalse austerior et gravior efse potuifset<;, sed eum casus in. 
banc consuetudinem scribendi induxit, philosopho valde indi gr- 
im in : siquidem philosophia, ut fertur, vertutis cominet, et 
officii, et bene vivendi disciplinam:. quam qui protitetur, gra- 
vifsimarn mi hi sustinere personam videtur. Sed idem casus 
ilium ignarum quid profiteretur, cum se philosophum else dice- 
ret, istius impurifsimiE atque intemperantiisimce pecudis coeno, 
et sordibus inquinavit: qui mbdo cum res gestas consulatus 
mei collaudafset (qua; quidem laudatio hominis turpifsimi mihi 
ipsi erat pene turpis.) Non ulla tibi, inquit, invidia nocuit, sed 
versus tui. Minis magna pcena, te consule, constituta est, sive 
roalo poetae, sive libero. Scripsisti enim, CEDANT ARMA TO- 
GJE. Quid turn? ( 50 ) Hacc res tibi ductus illos excitavit. At hoc 
nusquam opinor scriptum fuifse in illo elogio, quod, te eonsule,. 
in sepulcbro reipublica? incisum est. VELITIS, JUBEATIS,. 
UT, quod Marcus Cicero versum. fecerit, sed quod vindicarit. 

XXX. Veruntamen, quoniam te ( SI ) non Aristarcbum, sed 
Phalarim grammaticum habcmus,' qui non notam apponas ad 
malum versum, sed poetam armis persequare ; scire-cupio, quid 
tandem isto in versu reprebendas, CEDANT ARMA TOG/E. 
Time dicis, inquit, toga; summum imperatorem efse cefsurum. 
Quid nunc te,. asme, litems doceam I non opus est verbis, sed 



(50) Hcec res tibi Jlucins illos excitavit.] Piso, upon his return to Rome 
from his province, trusting to the authority of His son-in-law, Caesar, had 
the hardinefs to attack Cicero before the senate; and, among other thing? 
With which he upbraided him, told him, that a single verse of his was the 
cause-ef 'all his calamity, by provoking Pompey to make him feel how much 
the power of the general was superior to that of the orator. The absurdity 
of Piso's application of this verse, our orator ridicules with great humour. 

(51) Non Ari star chum, sea 1 Phalarim grammaticum.'] Aristarchus was 
a celebrated grammarian, and critic: he flourished at Alexandria about- 
176 years before Christ. It is reported of him, that he wrote above a 
thousand commentaries upon different authors ; and that when he did not 
like a verse. of Homer/ he marked it with an asterisk, as being spurious, 
Phahris was a famous tyrant of Agrisentura. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 413 

any one has a mind to find fault with this poem, let him, pro- 
vided he does it without severity; and treat tKe author, not as 
a filthy, wicked, and p'resumptuous wretch ; bat asaGreekling, 
a flatterer, and a poet. As he was a Greek, and a stranger, he 
came into the hands of this fellow, or rather happened to fall 
into them ; being imposed upon, as this powerful and wise si 
had been, by that air of severity. When once he was united 
to him in so strict an intimacy, he could not disengage himself; 
and besides, he was afraid ot being charged With inconstancy, 
if he should leave him. Being asked, invited, and forced to it, 
he wrote so much to him, and that on the subject of his wretched 
self, that he described, in charming verfes, all his lusts, all his 
debaucheries, and, in a word, all his different kinds of suppers 
and entertainments. Those verses if any one has a mind to 
read, he may see Piso's life represented in them, as' it were in 
a minor : I would repeat some of them, which have been read 
•and heard by many, were I not afraid that the very strain, in 
which I am now speaking, was inconsistent with the majesty of 
this place. Besides, I would not detract in the least from the 
merits of the author, who, if he had been more fortunate in a 
pupil, would perhaps have been more grave and serious. But 
chance has led him into this manner of writing, so unworthy of 
a philosopher; for philosophy is said to comprehend in it the 
knowledge of virtue, social duty, and moral conduct; and who- 
ever prole fses it, seems to me to sustain a very important cha- 
racter. Not knowing well what it was he profefsed, when he 
took upon him the character of a philosopher, chance, which 
led him to Piso, plunged him likewise into the mire and filth of 
that most impure and intemperate brute, who, after having 
praised my conduct in my consulship, if praise from so/infamous 
a fellow is not rather infamy, said to me, It is not envy that has 
hurt you, but your verses. The punishment which was decreed 
under your consulship, was too severe either for a bad poet, or 
a. free citizen, But you wrote — Cedant arma tog<e. And what 
if I did ? Why, it was the cause of all your calamity. But it 
was not wrote, I think, in that epitaph which, under'your con- 
sulship, was engraved upon the tomb of the republic, Be it de- 
creed and ordered, that, as M. Cicero has made verses; no, it 
was thus, as M. Cicero has brought to justice. 

Sect. XXX. But as we have in you not an Aristarchus, but 
a grammatical Phalaris, who, instead of expunging the verse, 
are for destroying the poet; I should be glad to. know what 
fault you find with that verse, Cedant arma togce. Why this ; 
v you say that the greatest of our generals must give ^vay to your 
gown. Thou afs! am I now to teach thee thy letters ? Why, 
words won't do; you must have blows. I did not mean the 

Dd 3 ' 



414 M. T. CICERONIS ORAT10NES. 

fustibus; non dixi hanc togam, qua sum amictus; nee arma 3 
scutum, et gladium unius imperatoris: sed, quod pacis est in- 
signe et otii, toga: contra autem arma, tumultus atque belli ; 
more poetarum loeutus, hoc intelligi volui, BELLUM AC TU- 
MULTUM PACI ATQJJE-OTIO CONCE8SURUM. Quaere 
exdamiliari tup, Graeco illo poeta : probabit genus ipsum et 
agnoscet, neque te nihil sapere mirabitur. At in illo altero, 
inquit, hares,' CONCEDAT LAUREA LAUDI. Immo, me- 
liercule, habeo tibi gratiam ; hssrerem enim, nisi tu me expe- 
nses: nam cum tu timidus ac tremens tuis ipse furacifsimis 
manibus detractam e cruentis fascibus Iauream ad portara Esqui- 
finam abjecisti; indicas'ti iion modo amplifsimae, sed etiam mi- 
iiimse laudi Iauream concefsifse. Atcme ista ratiope hoc tameu 
intelligi, scelerate vis, Pompeium inimicum mihi isto versu efse 
factum ; ut, si versus mihi nocuerit, ab eo, queni is versus offen- 
derit, videatur mihi pernicies efse quaesita. Omitto, nihil istum 
versum pertinuifse ad ilium: non fuifse meum, quern quantum 
potuifsem, multis sagpe orationibus scriptisque decorafsem, hunc 
lino violare versu. Sed sit oflensus; primo non-ne compensa- 
cum uno versiculo tot mea volumina laudum suarum? Quod si 
est commotus, ad perniciem ne, non dicam amicilsimi, non ita 
<de sua laude meriti, non ita de republica, non consularis, non 
senatoris, non civis, non liberi ; in honiinis caput ille tarn cru- 
delis propter versum fuifset? 

XXXI. Tu quid, tu apud quos, tu de quo dicas, intelligis ? 
coinplecteris amplifsimos yiros ad tuum etGabinii scelus: neque 
id occulte; nam paulo ante dixisti, me cum iis coriigere, quos 
despicerem; non attingere eos, qui plus pofsent, quibus iratus 
else deberem ; quorum quidem (quis enim non iritelligit quos 
dicas?) quanquam non est una causa omnium, tamen est 
omnium mihi probata ; me Co. Pompeius, muftis obsistenti- 
bus ejus erga me studio atque amori, semper dilexit, semper 
sua conjunctione dignifsimum judicayit, semper non modo in- 
columem, sed etiam amplnsimum atque oruatifsimum voluit 
efse; vestras fraudis, vestrum scelus, ( 5? -) vesfrae crimiriationes 
jpsidiarum mearum, 'iliius periculonim, nefarie ficts?, sinful 
eorum, qui familiantatis licenria suovum improbifsimo rum ser- 
monum ciorcicilium in auribus ejus, impulsu vestro', collocave- 
runt. vestra) cupiditates provinciarum efieeerunt, ut ego exclit- 
derer, pmnesque, qui me, qui iliius gloriam, qui rempublicam 
sakam efse cupiebant, sermone atque aditu prohiberentur. Qui- 



(52) Fcsfrce criminatioiies insidiarnm viearimi.'] The Clodian faction, in 
order to deprive Cicero of so powerful a protection as that of Pompey, 
employed all their arts to infuse jealousies and suspicions into him, -of a 
design formed by Cicero against his life. 



415 

gown I now wear, nor the arms, the shield, or the sword of any 
particular general ; but as the gown is the emblem of peace and 
tranquillity, and the sword, on the contrary, that of war and 
tumult; I spoke in the poetical style, and meant no more than 
this, that war and tumult must give way to peace and tran- 
quillity. Ask your friend, the Greek poet; he will approve of 
this manner of speaking, own it to be an usual one, nor will he 
be surprised at your ignorance. But, says he, you stick in the 
latter part of the verse, Conceded laurm laudi. Why truly, Sir, 
lam obliged to you; here I own, I should have stuck, if you 
had not helped me out. For when you, trembling, dastardly 
wretch! with those most rapacious and thievish hands of yours, 
threw away, at the Esquiline gate, the laurel that was taken 
from your bloody fasces; you declared that the laurel yielded, 
not only to the highest, but even to the lowest kind of honour. 
And yel, ruffian ! you would have this understood in such a 
manner, as if Pompey had become my enemy on account of 
that verse ; that if the verse has hurt me, my ruin may seem to 
have been brought upon me by the person it offended. Not to 
mention that Pompey was not pointed at in that verse, nor that 
I could never intend to affront, by one verse, the person whom, 
to the utmost of my capacity, I had often celebrated in many 
writings and, speeches, I shall suppose he was offended ; will he 
not, in the first place, put the many volumes I have wrote in 
his praise, in the balance with one silly verse? Again, sup- 
posing him somewhat nettled, would he have been so cruel as, 
tor the sake of a trifling verse, to ruin, I do not say an intimate 
friend, nor one who had done so much to advance his fame, 
nor one who had deserved so well of the state, nor one of con- 
sular dignity, nor a senator, nor a citizen, nor a gentlemen, 
hut even a man ? 

Sect. XXXI. Do you know what, do you know before whom, 
do you know of whom you are talking ? You make the most 
illustrious persons share in the guilt of your crimes, and those 
<pf Gabinius ; and you do it openly. You said but just now, 
that I vented my spleen against those whom I despised, and 
did not meddle with those who had more power, and with 
whom I ought to be offended. But though the views of these 
persons (for who can be supposed not to know whom you point 
at?) are not indeed all the same, yet all their views are such as 
I approve of. Cm Pompeius, though many opposed his zeal 
and affection for me, always loved me, always thought me very 
worthy of his intimacy, always studied not only my safety, but 
my grandeur and glory. Your knavish tricks, your villain, 
the reports of my plots and his dangers, so maliciously invented 
by you, and by those who, abusing their intimacy with him, 
were constantly, at your instigation, filling his ears with the 
most scandalous stories, your pafsion for provinces, made me be 

D d 4 



416 ^ M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

bus rebu£estperfectum,ut illi plane suo stare judicio npnliceret: 
cum certi homines non studium ejus a me alienalsen , : J sed auxi- 
Hum retardaisent. Non-ne ad te L. Lentulus, qui turn erat 
praetor, non Q.. Sanga, non L. Torquatus pater, non-M. Lucui- 
lusvenit? qui omnes ad eum, (? 3 ) multique mortales, oratuni 
in Albanum obsecratumque venemnt ne meas fprtunas desereret 
cum reipublica> salute conjunctas; quos ille ad te et ad tuum 
collegam remisit, ut causam publicam susciperetis, ut ad sena-- 
turn reierretis: se contra armatum tribunum pleb. sine consilio 
publico decertare nolle: consulibus ex S. C. rempublicam deferi- 
dentibus, se arma sumpturum, Ecquid infelix recordaris, quid 
respond&ris? in quo illi omnes quidem, sed Torquatus prseter 
ca^teros, furebat contumacia responsi tr»i ; te non else tarn for-? 
tem quam ipse Torquatus in consulatu fuifset, nut ego: nihil 
opus efse armis, nihil contentions : me poise iterum reinpuh. 
servare, si cefsifsem : infinitam csedem fore, si restitifsem : de- 
inde aci extremum, neque te, neque generum, neque collegam, 
tuum, tribuno plebis defuturum ; hie tu hostis ac proditor, aiiis. 
me inimicior^m, quam tibi, debere efse dicis? 

XXXIL Ego C. Caesarem non eadem de r.epublica sensifse, 
quae me, scio : sed tamen, quod jam de eo, his audientibus 
Step© dixi, me ille sui tefius corisulatus, ( 54 ) eorumque hono- 
rum, quos cum proximis cqmmunicavit ? socium else voluit 3 
fletulit, ; invitayit, rogavit ; non sum ego, propter nimiam 
fortafse constantiae cupiditatem, adductus ad causam : non 
postulabam ut ei carifeimus efsem, cujus ego ne benefices qui- 
dem sententiam mearn tradidifsem. Adducta res in certamen, 
te consule, putabatur, ( 5S ) utrum quae superiore anno ille gefsis- 
set, manerent, an rescinderentur ; quid Joquar plura? si tan- 
turn ille in me efse uno roboris et virtues putavit, ut ea, quae ipse 
geiserat, conciderent, si ego restitifsem ; cur ei non ignoscam si 
anteposuit suam salutem nieae? Sed prseterita omitto; me ut 



(53) Multique mortales, oratum in Albanum obsecratumque venerant."] 
The many letters and mefsages which Pompey received from the confi- 
dants of Clodius, and from his pretended friends, all admonishing him to 
be on his guard against the plots of Cicero, and to take better care of his 
life, induced him to withdraw himself from Borne to his Alban villa. We 
are not to imagine, however, that he entertained any apprehension of 
Cicero : the part he acted on this*occ2sion, was more probably owing to 
his" 'engagements with Caesar. 

(54) goruinque • honor um, quos cum proximis communicavii, socium efse 
wluit."] 'Caesar 'tried all means to induce Cicero to take part in the acts of 
his consulship ; offered him commissions and lieutenancies, of what kind, 
and with what privileges 'he should desire; and to hold him in the same 
rank of friendship wluf Pbitipey' himself, as we are tola more fully av his 
oration, De provinciis consular fb us. 

ibb) Utrum qua; superior e ayhio ille gefsi '/set, maners?ii'\ Caesar had no 
sooner laiddown his consulship, than he began to be attacked and affronted 
by L. Domitius and C. Mensmius, two of Hit praetors: who called in 



GKT.RO'.S ORATIn 4 1 7 

excluded; and all those who 
and to the state, be removed from Ins coi 
all accefs to him. Whence it e:une to puis, that h 
liberty to follow Ins own judgment, w 
though they were not abl< ;nate his 

robbed me of his afsistance. J)id not L. Lentul 
then praetor, did not Q, Sanga, did not L. Torquatus tl 
did not M. LuculJus tome to your When these, an 
others, went to Pompey at his Alban ami n.t. 

him not to desert my fortunes, which <vere inseparably conn© 
ed with the wellaie of the state, he pent them back to you 
your colleague, that yon might undertake the public cause, and 
jay it before the senate ;. declaring that he would not take the 
held against an armed tribune or the people, without public 
thority ; but that, if the consuls would, by a decree of the 
nate, undertake the defence of the state, he would take i . 
Do you remember, wretch ! what answer yon n 
persons, but especially Torquatus, were provoked even to r 
at tiie rudeneis and insolence of it: you told them t. 
was not so stout a consul as Torquatus and I had been ; I 
there was no occasion for arms, or fighting; that I might 
the republic a second time, by withdrawing mvself; that my 
resistance would occasion the lofs of an infinite quantity ot civil 
blood; and, in short, that neither you, nor your son-in-law, 
nor your colleague, would relinquish the party of the tribune. 
And hast thou yet the" impudence, thou public enemy and 
traitor! to say that I ought to bear greater enmity toothers 
than to thee ? 

Sect. XXXII. I know that C. Caesar's political sentiments 
and mine were different; but, notwithstanding this, as I have 
often said of him in this afsembly, he desired, he proposed, he 
invited, he begged of me to share in his consulship, and in those 
honours which he communicated to his nearest relations. It 
was perhaps too great a desire of showing the steadiness of my 
principles, that kept me from joining his party ; but I was not 
fond of entering into a strict intimacy with one whose favour* 
could not even prevail upon me to think as he did. It was de- 
bated under your consulship, whether his acts of the preceding 
year should be confirmed or annulled. What need I say mo 
If he thought there was so much vigour and courage In me alone, 
that his acts would be abolished, if I had opposed tnem ; v 
should I not pardon him for preferring his own safety to mtl 



question the validity of his acts, and made several efforts in the • 

get them annulled'bv public authority. But the whole ended in 
fruitlefs debates and altercations ; for Caesar always took ere, by force of 
bribes, to secure the leading magistrates to his interest. 



4 IS M, T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Vn. Pompeius omnibus suis studiis, laborious, vitae periculis com- 
pK -xus est, cum municipia pro me adiret, Italiae fidem implora^ 
rot, P. Lentulo consuli, auctori salutis mea?, irequens afsideret, 
senatui sententiam prcestaret, in concionibus non modo se de r 
Jensorem salutis meae, sed etiam supplicem pro me profiteretur : 
hujus voluntatis eum, quern multum pofse intelligebat, mihi non 
inimicum else cognorat, socium sibi et adjutorem C. Caesarem 
adjunxit. Jam vides, me tibi non inimicum, sed hostem : illis, 
ouos describis, non modo non iratum, sed etiam amicum efse 
cleberc ? quorum alter, id quod meminero semper, aeque mihi 
t'uit amicus ac sibi; alter, id quod obliviscar aliquando, sibi 
amicior qui mihi. Deinde hoc ita fit, ut viri fortes, etiam si 
ferfo inter se cominus decertarint, tamen illud contentions odium 
simul cum ipsa pugna armisque ponant. Atqui me ille odifse 
mmquam potuit, ne turn quidem cum difsidebamus ; habet hoc 
virtus^ quam tu ne de facie quidem nosti, ut viros fortes species 
ejus et pulchritude etiam in hoste posita delectet. 

XXXIII. Equidem dicam. ex ammo, P. C. quod sentio, et 
quod, vobis audientibus, saspe jam dixi : si mihi nunquam ami- 
•ens C. Caesar fuifset, sed semper iratus ; si agpernaretur amici- 
tiam meam, seseque mihi implacabilem, inexplicabilemque pras~ 
beret; tamen ei, cum tantas res gefsifset, gereretque quotidie, 
non amicus efse non pofsem, cujus ego imperio non Alpium 
vallum contra adsceiisum transgrefsionemque Gallorum, non 
Kbeni fofsant -gurgitibus illis redundantem, Germanorum im- 
manifsimis gentibus objicioetopponoi perfecit ille, ut si montes 
resedifsent, amnes exaruifsent, non naturae prsesidio, sed- vic- 
toria sua'rebusque gestis Italiam munitam haberemus. Sed cum 
Hie expetat, diiigat, omni laude dignum putet; tu me a tuis 
snimieitiis ad simultatem revocabis? sic tuis sceleribus reipublicas 
pra&terita fata refricabis? quod quidem tu, qui bene noises con- 
junctionem meam et Caesaris, eludebas, cum a me trementibus 
omnino labris, sed tamen, cur tibi nomen non deferrem, requi- 
vebas. Quanquam, quod ad me attinet, ( 56 ) nunquam vistam im- 
mimuim cur arn inficiando tibi : tamen est mihi considerandum, 
<:uantum illi, tanii's reipublicae negotiis, tantoque bello impedito, 
ego homo amicifsimusj solicitudinis atque oneris imponam ; nee 
des^ero tamen, ( 5? ) quanquam languet juventusj nee perinde 



(56} Nunquam istam imminuam cur am hificicmdo tibi.'] This is a verse 
taken from the Atreus' of the poet Accius : it is quoted by Cicero upon 
another occasion. 

(57) Qt i cm quam languet juvejitus nee perinde atque debeat in laudis et glo- 
ria- cupiditate versatur.~] It has been observed, that the impeachnient of 
corrupt magistrates was always accounted honourable at Rome, and fre- 
quently undertaken by young gentlemen, in order to recommend them- 
selves to* the favour of the people, aiul thereby facilitate their advance- 
ment to the highest honours of the state. ' 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 419 

But, to omit what is past ; as Cn. Pon 

rest with all his zeal, with infinite labour, 

life j as he went round the- municipal towns in 01 

me, implored the assistance of all Italy, 

P. Lentulus the consul who first proposed mv return 

ready to declare his sentiments upon the niatl 

and in afsemblies not only prqfsefeed himself mv d 

eve*ri a suppliant for me; knowing that C. Caesar ha 

rest, and was withal no enemy of mine, I 

ciate and afsistant in all the services he did me. Do 

now that I had reason not only not 

persons you described, but to have a friendship for them f One 

of them, which I shall never fofget, Mas as much i 

his own; the other, which I shall forget in time, \ 

own friend than mine. In a word, it was with us, as r 

hravemen; who, though they fight hand to hand, yet, al 

the combat is over, lay aside their enmity when t 

their arms. But Ca?sar never could hate me, even when we 

Were at variance. For such is the nature of virtue, i 

shadow of which you are a stranger to, that the beauty of its 

appearance even in an enemy captivates the brave. 

'Sect. XXXIII. And indeed, conscript fathers, I will tell you 
my real sentiments, and what I have often already declared in 
your hearing. Though C. Caesar had never been mv friend, but 
had always shown a disinclination to me; though he had slighted 
"my friendship, and acted the part of an intolerable and imp!. 
ble enemy tow r ards me; yet after the great things lie has d< 
and still continues to do, I could not help loving him. While 
commands, we have no need of the rampart of the Alps to guard 
us against the inroads of the Gauls, nor of the ditch of the Rhi 
so full of whirlpools, against those of the savage nations of ( • 
many; were the mountains themselves levelled, and the rivers 
dried up, Italy, though deprived of all the barriers of nati 
would, by his victories and exploits alone, be strongly fortified. 
But as he has the highest esteem and affection for me, and d( 
me worthy of all manner of honour; shall you draw me offfi 
my quarrel with you, to a breach with him r Shall you thus, by 
your villanous arts, make the wounds of your country bL 
afresh? Though you well knew my intimacy with Ca ar, you 
fected not to know it, when you asked me, though with ti - 
lips, why I did not impeach you ? As for my part, I shall I 
you of that concern, by denying it to you : I must, consid< 
how much trouble and uneasiuefs I, who am so zealous a trie 
should thereby give one who has so important a war upon 
hands, and public concerns of such consequence, to emu.: 
him. Yet I am not without hopes, notwithstanding the spirit* 
inactivity of our young Romans, and • if ol due 



420 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONtfS. 

atone debeat in kudis et glorias cupiditate versatur, futuros ali- 
> qui abjectum hoc cadaver consularibus spoliis nudare non 

nolint, prsesertim tain afflicto, tarn infirmo, tarn enervato reo : 
te ita geiseris, ut timeres ne indignus beneficio videreris, 

nisi ejus, a quo mifsus eras, simillimusexstitiises. 

XXXIV. An ver6 tu parum putas investigates efse a nobis 
labes imperii tui, stragesque provincial? quas quidem nos nou 
vestigiis odorantes ingrefsus tuos, sed totis volutationibus corpo- 
ris et cubilibus persecute suiuus. Notata a nobis sunt et prima 
illascelera in adventu, cum, aocepta pecunia a Dyrrhachinis ob 
necem hospkis tui Platoris, ejus ipsius domum evertisti, cujus 
sanguine tn .addixeras; eumque, servis symphoniacis et alliis 
minveribus acceptis, timentem, et multurn dubitantem eonfirm- 
asti, et Thefsalonicam fide tua venire jufsisti ; ( 58 ) quem ne 
.roajorum quidem more supplicio affecisti, cum miser ille securi- 
bus hospitis surcerviees .subjicere gestiret: sed ei medico, quem 
tecum eduxeras, imperasti, ut venas hominis incideret: cum 
equkiem tibi etiam accefsio fuit ad necem Platoris, Pleuratus 
•ejus comes, quem necasti verberibus, summa senectute confec- 
'turn. Idemque tu Rabocentum, Befsicse gentis principem, cum 
te trecentis talentis regi Cotto vendidifses, securi pereufsisti : 
cum ille ad te legatus in castra veniiset, et ibi magna prossidia 
et auxilia a Belsis peditum equitumque polliceretur : neque eum 
solum, sed etiam cseteros legatos, qui simul venerantj quorum 
omnium capita regi Colto vendidisti. Denseletis, quae natio 
semper obediens huic imperio, etiam in ilia omnium barbaro- 
rum defectione Macedonica C. Sentium praetorem tutata est, 
nefarium bellum et crudele intulisti: eisque cum fidelifsimis 
sociis uti pofses, hostibus uti acerrimis maluisti. Ita perpetuos 
defensores Macedonia?., vexatores, ac perdi tores effecisti ; vec- 
tigalia nostra perturbarunt, urbes ceperunt, vastarunt agros, 
socios nostros in servitutem abduxerunt, familias abripuerunt, 
pecus abegerunt, Thefsaionicenses, cum oppido desperafsente. 



XXXV. ( 5 9) A te Jovis Urii fanum arrtiquifsimum barbaro- 
rum sanctilsimumque direptum est ; tua scelera dii immortales in 



(5S) Quern ne major urn quid-im more supplicio affecisti.'] The usual way 
of putting state criminals to death, was first by scourging them with rods, 
and .then beheading them. 

(51/) A te Jovis Urii fanum antiquifsimum barharoruvi.~\ This temple, 
we .are told by Arrian, lay betwixt the Thracian Bosphorus and the city 
of T.rebizond., The Jupiter Urius of the Greeks was called by the Romans 
Jupiter Imperator, as we learn by the following pafsage in the fourth book 
against Verres. ' Quid? ex aede Li bed simulacrum Aristei non tuo iinpe- 
•' rio nalam ablatum est:? Quid ? ex aede Jovis, religiosifsimum simulacrum 

* jovis Jmperatoris,, quem Graxi Urion nom'mant, pulcherrime factum, 

* nonne abstulisti r ' 



ardour in the pursuit of glory and fame, that then 

among them who will be disposed to stun this de 

of consular spoils; especially when the eritoinal 

so feeble, so enervate a wretch as you, who liave conduct 

yourself in such a manner as to &liow you was appi 

being thought unworthy of the favour conferred upoi 

did not exactly copy after that worthy gentleman wh 

Sect. XXXIV. Do you imagine that I have slightly 
the stains of your government, and the ravages 0? yotfr • 
vince ? No; I have not gone upon the scent of them, but have 
closely pursued you through all your steps into your very 
lurking holes and wallowing places. The very i .e S 

you were guilty of upon-your arrival, I marked ; when 
having received a sum of money from the inhabitants of D 
rachium for murdering Plator, the person who entertained < 
you demolished the house of the man, whose blood vou had set 
to sale ; whom, after receiving musical slaves and other presents 
from him, you encouraged, when under the most perplexi 
apprehensions, and ordered indeed to come to Thefsalpnica 
giving him your promise as a pledge of his safety; whom vou 
did not even put to death according to the custom of your "an- 
cestors, but when the poor wretch begged to yield his neck to 
the axes of his guest, ordered the physician, whom you earned 
with you, to open his veins. To the murder of Plator you 
added that of his companion Pleuratus too, whom you scounred 
to death, though sinking into the grave with the weight of 
years. After selling yourself for three hundred talents to ki 
Cottus, you likewise beheaded Rabocentus, a principal per- 
son among tho Befsians; though he came to your camp as an 
ambafsador, with a promise of afsistance, and a large bodv of 
auxiliaries both cf horse and foot. You waged a;- 
cruel war against the Denseiets, a nation always cbedieir. tc 
our government ; and. which ? even during that tc 
of the Barbarians in Macedonia, defended C. Sentius i 
tor; and when you might have made use of them 
faithful allies, you chose rather to have them inveterate • 
mies. Thus you rendered those who always defended Mac 
nia, the ravagers and destroyers of it. They have occ 
the utmost disorder in our revenue-:., taking cur cities, laid 
waste our lands, reduced our allies to slavery, carried on their 
slaves, drove away their cattle, and obliged the in s of 

Thefsalonica, when they despaired of being able to defend the 
city any longer, to fortify themselves in the cit 

Sect. XXXV. By you the temple of Jupiter Urius 
dered ; a temple, the most ancient and sacred air: 



422 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

nostras milites expiaverunt: qui cum uno genere morbi afrlige- 
icntur, rieque se recreate quisquampofset, qui semel incidifset ; 
dubitabat ncno. quid violati bospitcs, legati necati, pacati at- 
due socii nefVrio belldlac'efsiti, fana vexata, banc tantam efri- 
cerent vastitateiii. Cbgn'dscis ex particula parva, scelerum et 
crude'litatis fiuc genus unive'rsum. Quid avaritiie, quae crimi- 
hibus inlinitis unpliea^a est, su'mmam mine expHcem ? genera- 
tim ea c\iv<b rriaxime nota sunt, dicam; nonne festertium cen- 
ties et octogies,, quod, quasi vasarii nominine, in venditione, 
inei capitis adscripseras, ex aVrario tibi attr'ibutum Romse' in quaes- 
tu reliquisti ? rionne cum CC talenta tibi Apollionatae Romac de- 
difsent, ne pecuriias creditas solvere'ntj ultro Fusidium equitem 
Romanum;, bominem ornatifsimum, creditorem debitoribus suis 
addixisti? nonne, hibema cum legato praofe'etoque tuo tradi- 
difses, evcrtisti miseras furiditus civitates,* qiioe non solum bonis 
sunt exhausted, sed etiam nefarias libidinum contumelias turpi- 
tudinesque subierunt ? ( 6cf ) Qui modus tibi fuit frumenti aesti- 
mandi ? qui honorarii ? si quidem potest vi et metu extortum 
honorarium nominari; quod Cum plerasque omnes, turn acer- 
bifsime Bceotn, et Byzantii, Chersonensesy Tbefsalonica sen- 
sit : unns tu dominus, unus ^estimator, unus venditor tota in 
provincia per triennium frumenti omnis fuisti, 

XXXVI. Quid ego rerum capitalium quoestiones, reorum 
pactiones, redemptiones, acerbifsimas damnatidnes, libidino- 
sifsimas liberationes proferam? tahtum locum aliquem cum 
mihi notum efse senseris, tecum ipse licebit, quot in eo ge- 
nere et quanta sint crimina, recordere. Quid ? illam amorum of- 
ficinam ecquid recordaris, cum omni tortius provincial pecore 
compulsd, pellium nomine omnem quantum ilium domestieum 
paternumque renovasti ? videras enim grandis jam puer," bello 
Italico, repleri quaestu vestram domum, cum pater armis fa- 
ciendis tuus pracfuifset : quid ? vectigalem provineiam, singulis 
rebus, quaecumque venirent, certo portorio imposito, servis 
tuis pubiicanis a te factum efse meministi ? quid? centuriatus 
palam venditos ? quid ? per tuum servulum ordines afsignatos ? 

(60) Qui modus tibi fuit frumenti testimandi ?~\ The Roman provinces 
were obliged to pay a certain quantity of corn, commonly the tenth part 
of their crop. This corn the Roman magistrates had a power of convert- 
ing into money at a certain valuation, which was a' source of grievous op- 
prefsion in the provinces. Cicero, in his third book against verres, tells 
us, that this conversion was at first designed for the ease of the farmers ; 
but that it was at last abused by avaricious governors. His words are as 
follows: * Hasc aestimatis nata est, judices, initio, non ex prastorum aut 
' consilium, sed ex aratorum atque civitatum commodo. Nemo enim 
' fuit initio tarn impudefis, qui, cum, frumentum deberetur, pecuniam. 
' posceret. Certe hoc ab aratqre primum est profectum, aut alia civitate, 
' cui imperabatur : cum aut frumentum vendidifset, aut servare.vellet, aut 
' in eum locum, quo imperabatur, portarc nollet petivit in benefieiiloco et 
' gratia?, ut si-bi pro frumento, quanti frumentum efset, dare liceret. Se- 
' cuti sunt avariores magistratus Instituerunt semper ad ultima ac dii- 



cicero's orations. 

Barbarians. The urtmortal (jocfe 

your crimes on the persona ot obi 
with tlie same kind of disease, and it proving fatal 
whom it attacked, nobody questioned bill 
the Jaws of hospitality, the murder of arob 
unjust wars against peaceful allies; the plundi 
have been the cause of so dreadful a desolation. I 
specimen of your villanies and cruelty, you di 
Need I represent at large thy avarice, which is couipli* 
with an infinite number of other crimes? I shall only mcnl 
in general, those instances of it that are mosi notorious. Did 
you not leave at interest in Home eighteen millions t»i > 
the sum at which you valued my head, and which wa 
you out of the treasury for domestic uses? When the people 
of Apollonia gave you two hundred talents at Rome, i 
to be excused from paying their debts, did you not deliver up 
Fusidius, a Roman knight of the most distinguished accom- 
plishments, into the hands of his debtors? When you 
your lieutenants with their troops into winter quarters, did 
you not utterly ruin those wretched cities into which th< 
sent, and which were not only stripped of their wealth, but 
obliged to undergo the most infamous outrages of brutal lust ? 
What rule did you observe in the valuation of corn ? what in 
the valuation of the free gift ? if what is extorted by violenoe 
and threats, can be properly called a free gift. This v 
what the inhabitants or most of , the cities felt, but especially 
those people of Bceotia, Byzantium, Chersonesus, and Thefsa- 
lonica. During the space of three years, you was the sole 
proprietor, the sole valuer, the sole retailer of corn throughout 
the province. 

Sect. XXXVI. Need I mention your conduct in criminal 
trials, your bargains and compromises with the accused, \ our 
rigorous penalties, and your arbitrary acquittals ? When I h 
once shown you that I am no stranger to some parts of \ < i 
conduct under those heads, you may then recollect how i 
merous and highly aggravated your crimes are upon the whole. 
To begin then — Do you remember a*iy thing of that me 
of arms, when having got together all the cattle of the pri 
vince, you renewed all that profit which was made by your la- 
ther and others of your family upon skins ? For being I 
boy in the Italian war, you saw your house filled with the pro- 
fits of that trade, when your father had the direction of i 
manufacture of arms. Do you remember how you made a 
whole province tributary, by laying a certain rax upon all 
vendible commodities, and farming out that 
Do you remember how military commifsions w to 

' iicillima bcai ad porta,ndum frumentum imperare, ui vectors dUE 
* ad quam vellcni ffistimatidnem pcrfenirent.* 



4C4 m. t. ciceronis drationes. 

quid ? stipendinm militibus per onmes annos a ciritatibus, men » 
sis palAra propositi*, efse numeratum ? ( 6l ) Quid ilk in Fon~ 
tum proteetio, et eonatus tutis ? quid debilitatio atqtlG abjectio 
animi tui, Macedonia prsetoria nuntiata, cum tu non solum 
quod tibi succederetur, sed quod Gabinio non succederetur, ex~ 
sanguis et mortuus coucidisti ? quid quaestor sedilitius rejectus ? 
propositus legatorum tuorum Qptimus abs te quisque vi'olatus? 
tribuni milituin non recepti ? M. Baebius, vir rortis, mterfectus 
juisu tuo ? Quid, quod tu toties dimdens ac desperans rebus 
tins, in sordib%s, lamentis, Luctuque jacuisti ? ( 6x ) quod populari 
illi sacerdoti sexcentos ad bestias amicos sociosque misisti ? Quid, 
quod cum sustentare vix poises moerorem tuum, dolorernque 
decefsionis, Samothraciam te primum, post inde Thasum cum 
tuis teneris sakatoribtts, et cum Autobulo, Athamante et Ti~ 
xnocle, formosis fratribus, contulisti ? Quid, quod cum inde te 
recipiens, in villa Euchadiae, quas fuit uxor Exegisti, jacuisti, 
moerens aliquot dies; atque inde obsoletus Thefsalonicam, om- 
nibus insc.ientibus, noctuque -venisti ? qui cum concursum plo- 
rantium, ac tempestatem querelarum ferre non poises, in oppi- 
durri devium Berceam prof'ugisti ; quo in oppido cum tibi spe 
falsa, quod Q. Ancharinm non efse succefsurum putares, am- 
nios rumor infiaiset; quo te modo ad tuam intemperantiam, 
scelerate, innovasti? 

XXXVII. . Mitto auram coronarium, quod te diutifsime tor- 
sit ; cum modo velles, modo nolles ; lex enim generi tui et de- 
cern!, et tc accipere vetabat, nisi decreto triumpho ; in quo tu, 
nccepta tamen et devorata pecunia, ut in Achoeorum centum 
talentis, evomere non poteras : vocabula* tantrum pecuniarum, 
et genera mutabas. Mitto diplomata J;ota in provincia pafsim 
data : mitto numerum navium, suminamque praedas : mitto ra- 
tionem exacti impera'tique frumenti: mitto -eraptam libertatem 
populis, ac singulis, qu~i erant affecti prx-miis nominatim : quo- 
rum nihil est, quod non sit lege Julia, ne iieri liceat, sanci- 
tum diligenter. MtoYnim, quas procul a barbaris disjuncta 



(CI) Quid ilia in Pontinn profectio, et conatus tuus.~\ There Is no mention 
made in history of what Cicero alleges in this parage. It is probable/ 
however, that Piso's avarice prompted him to make an attempt upon 
pontus, and that he was repulsed. 

(62) Quod populari illi sacerdoti sexcentos ad bestias amicos sociosque mi- 
sisti ?■] Cicero here refers to the shows of wild beasts^which Clodius exhi- 
bit ed when he was made curule S'diie. He is called sacerdos popularis, in 
•^K'u-ion to the story of his profaning the mysteries of the Bona Dea, 



CICEtlo's ORATIONS. 

open sale? how the officers had their rani led them 

the meanest of your slaves ? how the soldie; 
from the cities every year, offices being publicly 
that purpose ? What shall I say of your inarch to, and I 
upon Pontus? of* the dastardly abject spirit you 
when } upon being told that Macedonia was declared a pi 
province, you dropped down pale and motion lefs, not o 
cause you had got a succefsor, hut because- Gabinius I 
none? of your rejecting a questor, trho had n 
of the first and ablest of your lieutenants being all wronged 
you ? of your rejecting the military tribunes appointed by I 
people? of your ordering that brave man, M. Bpebius, t< 
put to death ? What shall I say of your abandoning yon 
often to the most rueful despondency, to tears and lamentation*, 
upon a view of the desperate situation of your affairs r what of 
your sending to that lay-priest six hundred of our friends and 
allies, to be exposed to wild beasts? Do you remember how \ 
retired, when almost overwhelmed with sorrow ;md affliction ut 
your removal, first to Samothrace, and from thence to Thar- 
with your delicate dancers, and tiiose beautiful brothers, A mo- 
dulus, Athamas, and Timocles ? how, upon your leaving Tharsus, 
you lay for some days, in the utmost dejection, at the count r-. - 
seat of Euchadia, the wife of Exegistus, from whence you sU 
in a pitiful sorry manner, to Thefsalonica, in the night, unci 
without the knowledge of any body ? how, upon your not being 
able to bear the tears of the crowds that flocked round you at 
Thefsalonica, and the tempest of their complaints, you lied to 
Beraea, an out-of-the-way place ; where, being elated with the 
report and imagination that Q. Ancharius was not to succeed 
you, you renewed, ruffian that you are ! all your former 
outrages ? 

Sect. XXXVII. I mention not the money for the triumphal 
crown, which tormented you so long, while you had a mind at 
one time to take, and at another not to take it. For it 
forbid by your son-in-law's statute, that such a crown should 
be either decreed or accepted, uniefs when a triumph 
decreed. Notwithstanding this, having received and devoi 
the money, you was no more able to disgorge it, than you 
to disgorge the hundred talents belonging to the Achaean*. J 
only alleged another pretence for taking it. I mention 
the letters patent that were sent all over the province ; nci 
ships that were sent out, and the amount of their prizes ; nor 
the account of the corn that was exacted and demanded : I 
pafs by vour depriving nations of their liberty, 
with individuals, though thev were exprei'sly entitled to privi- 
leges: allwhichactsofopprelsion were carefully pro\ id. I 
by the Julian law. At your departure, you curse, you pJ 

E e 



426 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

gentibus, in sinu pacis posita, medio fere Groeciae gremio con- 
tinetur (6 poena, oiuria socioruml) decedens miseram perdidlsti. 
( 6s ) Arsinoen, Stratum, Naupactum, ut. modo tute indicasti, no- 
biles urbes atque plenas, fateris ab hostibus else eaptas ; quibus 
autem hostibus? nenipe iis, ( 64 ) quos tu Ambraciae sedens^ pri- 
nio tuo adventu ( 6s ) ex oppidis Agrinaruni atque Doldpum de- 
migrare, et aras et focos relinquere coegisti. Hoc tu in exitu, 
praxlare imperator, cum tibi ad pristinas clades accefsio fuifset 
yEtolia; repentinus interitus, exerciturn dimisisti : neque ullam 
pcenam, quae tanto facinori deberetur-, non maluisti subire, quanl 
numerum tuorum milituni reliquiasqtie cogiioscere. 

XXXVIII. Atque ut duorum Epicureorum similitudinem in 
re militari imperioque videatis : Albucius, cum in Sardinia 
triumphafset lionise' damnatus est ; hie cum similem exitum 
speraret, in Macedonia tropeea posuit : eaque, qua? beJlicae 
Jaudis victoriaeque omnes gentes insignia, et monumenta efse 
voluerunt, noster hie praeposterus imperator j amifsorum oppi- 
dorum, caesarum legionum, provincial prscsidio et reliquis mili- 
tibus orbatae, ad sempiternum dedecus sui generis et nominis 
funesta indicia constituetj idemque, ut efset, quod in bad 
tropaeorum incidi inscribique pofset^ Dyrrachium ut venitj 
dedecens, obsefsus est ab ipsis militibus, quos paullo ante 
Torquato respondit beneficii causa abs se efse dimifsos ; qui- 
bus cum juratus afrirmafset, se, quae deberentur, postero die 
persoluturum, domum se abdidit : inde nocte intempesta, cre- 
pidatus, veste servilij navem conscendit, Brundusiumque vita- 
vit, et ultimas Hadriani maris oras petivit : cum interim Dyr- 
rhachii milites domum, in qua istum efse arbitrabantur, obsi- 
dere cceperunt, et cum latere hominem putarent, ignes circum- 
dederunt; quo metu commoti Dyrrhaehini, profugifse noctu 
crepidatum imperatorem indicaverunt ; iili autem statuam 
istius persimilem, quam stare celeberrimo in loco voluerat, 
ne suavifsimi hominis memoria moreretur, deturbant, affli- 
gunt, comminuunt, difsipant ; sic odium, quod in ipsum attu- 
ierant, id in ejus imaginem ac simulacrum profuderunt. Quae 
cum ita sint, non dubito, quin, cum hac, quae excellent, me 
noise videas, non existimes, mediam iliam partem et turbam 
tiagitiorum tuorum mini efse inauditam ; nihil est, quod me 
hortere ; nihil est, quod invites ; admoneri me satis est ; admo- 

(63) Arsinoeti, Stratum, Naupactum^ The first of these is a city of 
JEtolia, a small country in Achaia ; the second of Acarnania in Thrace ; 
the thiK 1 , the capital of JEtolia, now Lepanto. 

(64) Qjuos , 'u sivibracia: seckns ] Ambracia was a famous city of Thespro- 
ti;i in Lpirus, near the river Acheron. After Augustus had conquered 
M. Antony, in memory of his victory, he called this city Nicopolis. 

/ " \ is- oppidis Agrinarum et Dulopum.~\ The former of these inhabited 
/Ltviiu, the latter Epirus. 



CICERO 8 ORATIONS. 

of oar -allies! you ruined poor /Ktolia, which 

tancelr-om the barbarous nations, seat 

and situated almost in the centre of ( 

what you just now declared, that the rich and d< 

Arsinoc, Stratum, and Naupactum, were taken i 

But by what enemies? why those whom, upon 

whilst you was amusing yourself at Ambracia, you forced to 

quit the towns of the Agreans anil Dolopians, and to relinqu 

tliejr altars and dwellings. Upon this, when you had ad 

the sudden ruin of Mtoha. to your former outrages, hk 

nowned general, you dismifsed your army^nd cho 

undergo any punishment that was due to so shameful an acti 

than take an account of the remains oi' your troops. 

Sect. XXXVIII. But to show you the resemblance bet 
two Epicureans in their military character : Albucius, after having 
triumphed in Sardinia, was condemned at Rome: Piso, whilst 
he expected the same fate, raised trophies in Macedonia; and 
thus, what other nations have designed as public memorial 
warlike fame and succefs, this general of ours, to the eternal 
disgrace of his name and family, has raised to a quite contn 
purpose, to serve as fatal monuments of cities lost, legions 
slaughtered, and provinces stripped of their troops, and all man- 
ner of defence: and that there might be something to be e 
graved upon the basis of his trophies, when he came to Dyrra- 
chium, he was, at his departure, invested by those very sold 
whom he told Torquatus not long ago he had freely dismifi 
on account of their services. After having sworn to them that 
he would next day pay them all their arrears, he shut himself 
up at home; hut at midnight he went on board a ship, v. 
sandals on his feet, and in the habit of a slave, kept clear 
Brundusium, and steered for the remotest coast of the Adriatic. 
The soldiers at Dyrrachium* in the mean time, thinking 
was st-ill in the house, began to invest it; and) imagining that 
the fellow concealed himself, set fire to every qu it : 

the inhabitants of Dyrrachium being alarmed at this, afsu 
them that their general had made his escape by night in his 
sandals. Upon this the soldiers threw down, broke to pie^v 
and scattered about a statue of his, which was very like him, 
and winch he ordered to be raised in the most public place, that 
the memory of so agreeable a gentleman might not be lofl 
thus discharging upon his image and effigies, that hatred whi 
they were fired with against himself. Having 
therefore, I make no question but that, as you see 1 am 
stranger to your flagrant enormities, you'll ira 
quainted with the whole detail and seri< 
need not therefore exhort me ; you need not solicit me : mj 
put in mind is sufficient. The time tl 

EeJ 



428 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

nebit autcm nemo alius, nisi republics tempus : quod mibi quiderc? 
magis videtur, quam tu unquam arbitrates es, appropinquare. 

XXXI'X. Ecquid vides, eequid sentis ( 66 ) lege judiciaria lata, 
quos posthac judices simus habjturi ? non Eeque legetur, quisquis 
voluerit ; nee, quisquis noluerit, non legetur, nulli conjicientur 
in ilium ordinem, nulli eximettt'ur : nonambitio adgratiam, non 
iriiqujtas ad simuiationem conjicietur; judicis judicabunt iiy 
quos lex ipsa,. non quos bonlinum libido* delegerit. Quod cum 
ita sit, mibi erode, neminem in^ntus invitabis : res ipsa, et rei- 
publica:: tempus,. aut me ipsum,; quod nolim, aut alium quem- 
piam, aut invitabit, aut dehortabttuiv Equidem, utpaullo ante 
clixi, non eadem supplieia efse in hominibus existimo, quae for- 
tafse pleriqfie, danmationes, expulsion^, neces: denique nul- 
lam mibi poenam videtur babere id, quod accidere innocenti, 
quod forti, quod sapient!,, quod bono virO et civi potest. Dam- 
natio ista r quge in te Magitatur, obtigit P. Rutilio : quod speci- 
men habuit h-.ee civitas innoeentioe.. Major mihi judicum, et rei~ 
publicae poena ilia visa est, quam KutiliL Lv Opimius ejectus 
est patria ( 6? ) is qui praetor et consul maximis rempubl. periculis 
liberarat: non in eo, cui facta est injuria, sed in iisquag feeerunt,; 
sceleris ac conscientia? poena remansit. At contra bis Catilina 
absolutus:; ( es ) emifsus etiam ille auetor tuns provincial, cuii* 
stuprum Bonae Dese pulvinaribus intulifset; quis fuit in tantaci- 
vitate, qui ilium incesto liberatunr, non eos, qui ita judicarunt ? r 
pari scelere adstrictos arbitraretur ? 

XL.^An ego^exspectum, dum de te quirique et septuaginta. 
tabellae diribeantur^ de quo jampridern omnes mortales omnium* 
generum, setatum, ordinum judicaverunt? quis enim te adity, 
quis ullo honore,. quis denique communi salutatione dignum pu- 
tetr 1 omnes memoriam consulates tui, facta, mores, faeiem de- 



(66) Lege judiciaria latd.~] The law here referred to, was that promul- 
gated by Pompey in his second consulship, in which this oration wss- 
made ; whereby the judges were to be chosen otherwise than formerly, out 
ot the richest in every century ; confined, however, to the senatorian and 
equestrian orders, together with ihetfibuni cerarii, according to the Aure- 
ljan law. 

(67) Is qui pnetor et consul ?naximis rempublica?n perisidis liberarat. ,] In 
the year of Home 623, the people of Fregellae, a town not far from the 
Litis, formed a plot to throw off the "Roman yoke. L. Opimius, then 
praetor, was sent with an army against. them ; their city was delivered in- 
to his hands by the treachery of Numitorius, and he rased it to the 
ground: by which, piece of severity he is said to have detered many other 
Italian towns from breaking into rebellion, to which, provoked by their 
disappointment in relation to the-freedom of "Rome, they were strongly 
mclined. I n his consulship too, he had full power given him by the senate 
to do as he thought fit for the good of the state, in regard to the distur- 
bances occasioned by C. Gracchus, which he put an end to,- though not 
without the effusion of much blood: and, notwithstanding the praises 
our orator bestows upon him, it is certain he acted* on this occasion, a 
very cruel and violent part. 



■CICERO'S ORATIONS. 

*vcr, shall be my only direction in tins ; and that CU&ft appears 
.to me to be nearer than you ev< ined. 

Sect. XXXIX. Do yon not see, do you not p 
judges we shall have lor the future, according to the 1. 
rcerning the qualifications of judges? It will not be in the power 

of every person to be chosen or not, as he please 

will be obtruded upon that order, and none arbitrarily i 

.empted : interest shall not be procured there b\ canval 

it, nor guilt be covered by hypocrisy. Such judges alone shaU 

be chosen, as the law, not the humours of men, shall make 
choice of. When this is the case, believe me, vou shall h 
,no occasion to provoke an impeachment: the tiring itself, i 
the convenience of the state, shall invite or difsuade either n 
self, who have no mind to be engaged in it, or swine otl 
person. And to repeat what I have but lately said, I am 
from thinking, with most men, that condemnation, banishu. 
and death, serve alike tor punishment to all : in a word, 1 
no punishment in what may befal an innocent, a brave, a * 
a good man, or a worthy patriot. That condemnation which all 
desire to see you fall under, was the lot of Pub. Rutilius, who 
was looked upon by this state as a pattern of integrity ; but, hi 
my opinion, the judges and the republic were punished more 
than Rutilius. L. Opimius was driven from, his country, who, 
in his praitorship and consulate, had delivered the state from 
the greatest dangers ; but the penalty of guilt, and the pangs of 
remorse, did not fall upon him who received the injury, but 
upon those who inflicted it. Catiline, on the other hand, was 
twice acquitted; and even the wretch to whom you owe your 
province escaped, though lie polluted the shrines -of the bona 
dka. Was there a man in this great city who thought that 
this cleared him of his abominable impiety, or that hit judges 
were not equally guilty ? 

Sect- XL. Am I to wait till seventy-five tablets are distri- 
buted in your .cause, when men of all ranks, ages, and condi- 
tions, have long since pronounced you guiltv ? for where is the. 
man that thinks you worthy of being visited, of receiving the 
smallest honour, or even a common salutation? Tlie nun 
of your consulship, your actions, your character, in a word, 



(68) Emifsits ctiam Ule autior tuus frcvincia-, cum stupru tor p:u~ 

Vtnaribus intulifsit.] The pollution of thr- toysU n.s «>t the DOS* Dea by 
Clodius, raised a general scandal through Rome, and was looked u\n 
a heinous offence to good manners, and the discipftoecrf thr republic. 
Jionest of all ranks were for pushing this advantage against ( 
as it would go, in hopes thereby to rid tbemselvi - of no pestilent acit 
who seemed born to raise disturbances in the state. Accordil 

K e 8 



430 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

nique ac noman a republica detestantur. Legati, qui una 
fuere, alienati ; tribuni militum inimici: centuriones, et si qui 
ex tanto exereitu reliqui milites exsistunt, non dimifsi abs te, 
sed difsipati, te oderunt, tibi pestem exoptant, te exsecrantur. 
Achaia exhausta: Thefsalia vexata: laceratae Athensfe: Dvrrha- 
chium et Apollonia exinanita: Ambracia direpta : Parthini et 
Bulienses illusi ; Epirus excisa ; Locri, Phocii, Bceotii e'xusti : 
( 6o ) Acarnania, AmpHilochia, Perrhaibia, Athamanumque gens 
vendita : Macedonia condonato barbaris : JEtolia ami-fsa : . Do^ 
lopes finitimique montani oppidisatque agris exterminati : cives 
Rom. qui in iis locis negotiantur, te unum solum suum depe- 
culatorem, vexatorem, praedonem, hostem, venii'se senserunt. 
Ad horum omnium judicia tot atque tanta, domesticum judicium 
accefsit sententiae damnationis tuae : occultus adventus, f urtivum 
iter per Italiam, introitus in urbem desertus ab amicis, nullae ad 
senatum e provincia literae, nulla ex trims eestivis gratulatio, 
nulla triumphi mentio : non modo, quid gefseris, sed ne quibus 
in locis quidem fueris, dicere airdes. Ex illo fonte et seminario 
triumpborum cum arida folia laureoe retulii'ses, cum ea abjecta ad 
portam reliquisti, tum tu ipse de te ( 7 °) FECISSE VIDERI pro- 
nuntiavisti ; qui si nihil gefseras dignum honore, ubi exercitus? 
ubi sumptus? ubi imperium? ubi ilia uberrima supplicationibus 
triumphisque provincia ? sin autem cuquid separare volueras, 
si cogitaras id, quod imperatoris nomen, quod laureati fasces, 
quod ilia tropaea, plena dedecoris etrisus, te commentatumefse 
declarant : quis te miserior ? quis te damnatior, qui neque scri- 
bere ad senatum a te bene rempublicam efse gestam, neque 
prsesens dicere ausus es ? 

XLI. An tu mibi (cui semper ita persuasum fuerit, non even^ 
tis, sed factus cujusque fortunam ponderari, neqne in tabellis 
paucorum judicum, sed in. sententiis omnium civium famam 
nostramfortunamque pendere) te indemnatum videri putas, quern 
soeii, quern fcederati, quern liberi populi, quern stipendiarii, 
quem ' negotiatores, quem pnblicani, quern ' universa civitas, 
quem legati, quem tribuni militares, quem reliqui milites, qui 



was published for bringing him to a trial before the praetor, with a select 
bench of judges: but every art and instrument of corruption being em- 
ployed by the Clodian party, twenty-five of the judges only condemned, 
while thirty-one absolved him. 

(69) Acarnania yAmphilochia, Perrh^bia, Athamanvm quegens , venditat.'] 
Acarnania was a part of Epirus, now Carnia ; Amphilochia was a small 
country bordering upon Acarnania; Perrha^bia was a town x of Macedonia ; 
the Athamanes were a people of JEtoli. 

(70) Fecifss videri.] This is a form of words made use of by the judges 
when they condemned a criminal. 



ciceho s or at io>;s. 431 

your very looks and name are abhorred 

men wish them banished from the common wealth. ': e 

tenants who accompanied you, have no i* the 

military tribunes are your foes; tile centurions, ami the ioldiei s 
that remain of your great army, if any do remain, who 
not dismissed, but dispersed by you, hate and ah 
pray for plagues to fall upon you. Achaias utterly i 
you, Theisaiy ravaged, Athens torn to pieces, Dyrrachium and 
Apoilonia destroyed, Ambracia pillaged, the Parthini and tth- 
lienses abused, Epire demolished, the Locrians, Pbocians, and 
Boeotians burnt out of their dwellings; Aearnania, Amphilochia, 
Perrhaebia, and the eountry of the Athamanians sold ; Macedon 
given up to the barbarians; Mtohu lost; the Dolopians, and 
inhabitants of the neighbouring mountains, driven from their 
towns and lands; in a word, the Roman citizens, who trade in 
those places, are all sensible that in your single person they 
found a plunderer, an oppressor, a robber, and an enemv. To 
those so numerous and weighty testimonies against you, is 
added the testimony of your own conscience, which pronounces 
your condemnation: your secret approach, your clandestine 
journey through Italy, your not having a friend to attend you 
when you entered the city, your sending no letters to the se- 
nate from your province, no congratulations upon your three 
summer campaigns, no mention of a triumph ; your not daring 
to give an account of your actions, nay, nor even of the places 
where you have been. When you brought back your withered 
laurels from that source and nursery of triumphs, when you 
threw these* away at the gates of Rome, you then pronouncrd 
your own condemnation. If you did nothing deserving of ho- 
nour, where is your army ? where have you spent your money ? 
what is become of your command? what of your provinc 
fertile in thansgivings and triumphs? But if you entertained 
any hopes, if you had those thoughts, which it is evident you 
had, from that title of emperor, from those laureled fasces, 
those shameful ridiculous trophies, can any person be more 
miserable than you, can any person fall under greater condem- 
nation, since you neither durst write to the senate that you had 
served your country, nor declare it in their presence? 

Sect". XLI. Have you the impudence to tell me, who have 
always been of opinion that every man's fortune is to be 
weighed, not by events, but by actions; that our fame and 
glory does not depend upon the suffrages of a few judges, but 
upon the sentiments of all our fellow-citizens? Do you 
that you appear to be uncondemned ; you, whom our 
whom our confederates, whom free nations, whom tribut 
whom traders, whom the officers of the revenue, whom the 
whole state, whom your lieutenants, whom the military tribunes, 
whom the remains of our army, that have escaped frui 

1 e 4 



432 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ferrum, qui famem, qui mortem eftugerunt, omni cruciatu dig" 
uiisimum putaut? cui non apud scnatum, non apud ullum ordi- 
nem, non apud equites Romanos, non in urbe, non in Italia maxi- 
morum scelerum venia ulla ad ignoscendum dari pofsit? qui se ip- 
sum oderit, qui metuat omnes, qui suam causam nemini commit- 
tere audeat, qui se ipse condemnet? Nunquam ego sanguinem 
expetivi tuum: nunquam illud extremum, quod pofset else im- 
probis et probis commune, supplicium iegis ac judicii : sed ab- 
jectum, contemptum, despectum a caeteris, a, te ipso desperatum 
et relictum, circumspectantem omnia, quidquid increpuifset per- 
timescentem, difRdentem tuis rebus, sine voce, sine libertate, 
.sine auctoritate, sine ulla specie consulari, horrentem, tremen- 
tern, adulantem omnes videre te volui: vidi. Quare si tibi 
evenerit, quod metuis, ne accidat ; equidem non moleste feram : 
sin id tardius forte fiet, fruar tamen tua indignitate : nee minus 
libenter metuentem videbo, ne reus fias, quam reum: nee mi-r 
nus Isetabor, cum te semper sordid um, quaiu si paullisper sordid 
datum viderem. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

sword, from famine, and from death , thi t he 

severest punishment? You who can never b , ur- 

inous crimes, neither by the senate, nor bv the (torn 
nor by any order of men in the state; neither in m 

any part of Italy ? You who hate yourself, who i 
who dare trust your cause to no person, and who. stand condami 
by our own judgment? I never thirsted for your blood, I net 
-wished for that heaviest punishment which is mtii< >ur 

Jaws, which the virtuous may be exposed to as we 
cious; but I wished to see you abject, contemptible, d 
by others, abandoned by yourself, given over to 
at every thing, frightened at the least noise, distrustful of your 
circumstances, without a voice, without liberty, without au» 
rity, without the least shadow of consuiar dignity, ever fearful, 
ever trembling, and the servile flatterer of all you meet; thj 
wished to see, and this I have seen. If what you dread, fchei 
fore, should befal you, I shall not indeed be sorry at it; but 
that should be a slow event, I shall still enjoy your infamy: nor 
will it give me lefs pleasure to see you dreading an impeach- 
ment, than if I saw you impeached; nor lefs joy to see you 
always despicable, than to see you in a sordid habit only for a 
while. 



ORATIO XII. 



PRO T. ANNIO MILONE *. 



I. T?TSI vereor, judices, ne turpe sit, pro fortifsimo viro di- 
JCj cere incipientem timere ; minimeque deceat, cum 
T. Annius [Milo] ipse magis de reipublicae salute, quam de sua 
perturbetur, me ad ejus caufsam parem auimi magnitudinem 
aiierre non pofse.; ( l ) tamen haec novi judicii nova forma terre£ 
oculos : qui quocunque inciderunt, veterem consuetudiuem fori, 
et prist inum morem judiciorum requirunt : non enim corona 
consefsus vester cinctus est, ut solebat : non usitata frequently 
stipati sumus ; nam ilia praesidia, quae pro templis omnibus 
cemitis, etsi contra vim collocata sunt, non afferunt tamen 

* This beautiful oration was made in the 55th year of Cicero's age, upon 
the following occasion. — In the year of Rome 70 1 , T. Annius Milo, Q. Me^ 
tellus Scipio, and P.Plautius Hypsseus, stood candidates for the consulship ; 
and, according to Plutarch, pushed on their several interests with such 
open violence and bribery, as if it had been to be carried only by money 
or arms. P. Clodius, Milo's profefsed enemy, stood at the same time for 
the praetorship, and used all his interest to disappoint Milo, by whose ob- 
taining the consulship he was sure to be controlled in the exercise of his 
magistracy. The senate, and the better sort, were generally in Milo's in- 
terest; and Cicero, in particular, served him with distinguished £eal. 
Three of the tribunes were violent against him, the other seven were his 
fast friends ;, above all M. Coelius, who, out of regard to Cicero, was very 
active in his service. But whilst matters were proceeding in a very favour- 
able train for him, and nothing seemed wanting to crown his succefs, but 
to bring on the election, which his adversaries, for that reason endeavoured 
to keep back ; all his hopes and fortunes were blasted at once by an un- 
happy rencounter with Clodius, in which Clodius was killed by his ser- 
vants, and by his command. His body was left in the Appian road, where 
it fell ; but was taken up soon after by Tedius, a senator, who happened 
to come by, and brought it to Rome ; where it was exposed', all covered 
with blood and wounds, to the view of the populace, who flocked about it 
in crowds to lament the miserable fate of their leader. The next day, 
Sextus Clodius, a kinsman of the deceased, and one of his chief incen- 
diaries, together with the three tribunes, Milo's enemies, employed all 
the arts of party and faction to inflame the mob, which they did to such 
a height of fury, that, snatching up the body, they ran away with it into 
the senate-house, and, tearing up the benches, tables, and every thing 
combustible, drefsed up a funeral ^lle upon the spot ; and, together with 
the body, burnt the house itself, with a basilica or public hall adjoining. 
Several other outrages were committed ; so that the senate vere obliged 
to pafs a decree, that the inter-rex, ajsisled by the tribunes and P: 



ORATION' XII. 



FOR T. ANN1US M1LO. 



Sect. I. r E ^HOUGM I am r e,my lords, it may 

A a reflection on a person's chara* r any 

signs of fear, when he is entering o 

man, and particularly unbecoming in me, that w Lniiius 

jNlilo himself is more concerned for the safety of the st;m 
his own, I should not be able to maintain an equal greatn 
mind in pleading his cause ; yet I must own, the unusal mariner 
in which this new kind of trial is conducted, strikes me with a 
kind of terror, while I am looking around me, in vain, for the 
ancient usages of the forum, and the forms that have bqeo 
hitherto observed in our courts of judicature. Your bench is 



should take care that the republic received no detriment ; and that Pompey t 
in particular, should raise a body of troops jor the common security ; 
which he presently drew together from all parts of Italy. Amidst this con; 
fusion, the rumour of a dictator being industriously spread, and alarming 
the senate, they resolved presently to create Pompey the single consul, 
whose election was accordingly declared by the inter-rrx, after an inter- 
regnum of near two month's.* Pompey applied himself immediately to 
quiet the public disorders, and published several new laws prepared by him 
for that purpose; one of them was to appoint a special commiftton to en- 
quire into Clodius's death, &c. and to appoint an extraordinary itidge. of 
consular rank, to preside in it. He attended Milo's trial himself, with a 
strong guard to preserve peace: the accusers were young Appuis, the 
jiephewof Clodius, M. Anfonius, and P. Valerius. Cicero was the only 
advocate on Milo's side; but as soon as he rose up to speak, he 
ceived with so nice a clamour by the Clodians, that he was mi 
posed and daunted at his first setting out : he recovered spirit t 
ever, to go through his speech, winch « down id wntta I 

published as it was delivered; though the copy of it no 
posed to have been retouched, and corrected by mm aftei 
sent to Milo, who was condemned, and weut into exile at Ma; ■ 
a few days after his condemnation. 

(t) Tamen hece novi judicii nova / ' oculos.-] The I 

Cicero calls this a new trial is, because Milo was not tried by th< 
prjetor, as was usual in criminal cases, but b; a »»<* an 

Extraordinary judge. By the n 
which Pompey brought to the trial, m order 
5 * 



436 M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

oratori aliquid, ut in foro.et in judicio, quanqnam praesidiis sa» 
hitaribus et necefsariis septi sumus, tamen ne non timere quidem 
sine aliquo timore pofsimus; quae si opposita Miloni putarem, 
eederemtempori, judices, nee inter tantam vim armorum exis- 
tunarem oratori locum efse; sed me recreat et reficit (2) Gn. 
Pompeii, sapientifsimi et justifsimi viri, consilium : quiprofecto 
nee justitiee suae putaret efse, quem ream sententiis judicum 
tradidifset, eundem telis militum dedere; nee sapientiae, temeri- 
.tatem concitatae multitudinisauetoritate publica armare. Quam- 
obrcm ilia arnia, centurines, cohoortes, non periculum nobis, 
sed prsesidium denuntiant : neque solum, ut quieto, sed etiam 
ut magno animo simus, hortantur: neque auxilium modo de- 
fensioni meae, verum etiam silentium pollieentur. (3) Reliqua 
vero multitudo, quae quidemest civium, tota nostra est: neque 
eorum quisquam, quos undique intuentes ex hoc ipso loco cer- 
nitis, unde aliqua pars fori aspici potest, et hujus exitumjudicii 
exspectantes videtis, non cum virtuti Milonis favet, turn de se, 
deliberissuis, depatria, defortunishodiernodiedecertariputat. 

II. Unum genus est adversum infestumque nobis, eorum quo? 
P. Clodii furor rapitiis, incendiis, et omnibus exifciis publicis 
pavit : (4) qui hesterna etiam condone incitati sunt,ut vobis voce 
prseirent, quid judicaretis; quonim clamor si quis forte fuerit ? 
admonere vos debebit, ut eum civem retineatis, qui semper 
genus ilkid hominum, clamoresque maximos pro vestra sa- 
lute neglexit. Quamobrem adeste animis, judices, et timo- 
^rem, si quem habetis, deponite. Nam si unquam de bonis 
et fortibus viris, si unquam de bene mentis civibus potestas 
vobis judicandifuit: si denique unquam locus ( s ) ampljfsiinorum 
ordinum delectis viris datus est, ubi sua studia erga fortes et 
bones cives, quae vultu et verbis saepe significafsent, re et sen- 
tentiis declararent : hoc profecto tempore earn potestatem 

(2) Cn. Pompeii, sapientifsimi et justifsimi viri.~\ Though Pompey was 
not concerned for Clodius's death or the manner of it, but pleased rather 
that the republic was freed at any rate from so pestilent a demagogue; ye.t 
Jie resolved to take the benefit of the occasion, forgetting rid ot Milo too: 
from whp&i ambition and high spirit, he had reason to apprehend no lefs 
trouble. Cicero being sensible of this, as well as of the great authority 
and influence of Pompey, endeavours, through the whole of this oration, 
to remove the effects which they might have upon the minds of the judges. 

(3) Reliqya vero niiiltitudo, qua' quidem est civium, tota nostra est. ,] The, 
Clodian party consisted principally of a set of profligate, low, and aban- 
doned wretches ; whom Clodius, by his rapines, had gained over to his 
interest. To these Cicero does not allow tjfie name of citizens, on account 
.of their infamous characters, and' seditious practices. 

(4) Oui hesterna etiam concione incitati sunt, ut vobis voce pratirent, quid 
judicaretis.'] Munatius Plancus Bursa, one of the three tribunes in opposi- 
tion to Milo, the very day before this oration was delivered, called the 
people together, and exhofjfced them to appear in a full body thenext day, 
when judgment was 1o be given, and to declaretheir sentiments in so pub- 
lic a manner that the criminal might not be suffered to escape; which Ci- 
cero reflects upon as an insult on the liberty of the bench. 



CieERo's ORATIONS. 

not surrounded With the usual circle; nor is the ci- 
used to throng us. For those guards you lee p 
tlie temples, liowever intended to prevent all violcix 
the orator with terror*, so that even in the forum, 
a trial, though attended with an usual and nc< 
cannot help being under some apprehensions, a 
I am sensible they are without foundation. Indeed n I fa 
gined it was stationed therein opposition to Milo, i sh<> 
way, my lords, to the times, and conclude tin 
for an orator in the midst of such an armed force. Hut | 
dence of Pompey, a man of such distinguished wisd 
equity, both cheers and relieves mo ; whose justice will m 
suffer him to leave a person exposed to the rage of the soklii 
whom he has delivered up to a legal trial; nor his wisdom, 
give the sanction of public authority to the outrages of a furious 
mob. Wherefore those arms, those centurions and cohort >, 
are so far from threatening me with danger, that thev afini 
me of protection; they not only banish my fears, but inl- 
ine with courage ; and promise that I shall be heard, not merely 
with safety, but with silence and attention. As to the rest of 
the afsembly, those, at least, that are Human citizens, thev 
all on our side ; nor is there a single person of all that multi- 
tude of spectators, whom you see on all sides of us, as for as 
any part of the forum can be distinguished, waiting the event 
of the trial, who, while he favours Milo, does not think his 
own fate, that of his posterity, his country, and his propc 
likewise at stake. 

Sect. II. There is indeed one set of men our inveterate ene- 
mies; they are those whom the madnefs of P. Clodius has train- 
ed up, and supported by plunder, firing of houses, and e\ 
species of public mischief; who were spirited up by the speeches 
of yesterday, to dictate to you what sentence you should pais. 
If these should chance to raise any clamour, it will only make 
you cautious how you part with a citizen who always despised 
that crew, and their loudest threatenings, where your safety 
was concerned. Act with spirit then, my lords ; and if 
ever entertained any fears, dismifs them ail. tor if ever J 
had it in your power to determine in favour of brave and \ 
thy men, or of deserving citizens ; in a word, if < 
casion was presented to a number of persons 
most illustrious orders, of declaring, by their actions and r 
votes, that regard for the- brave and virtuous, which I 
often exprefsed by their looks and words; now is 



* 



(5) Amplifsimorum ordinum ddectis viris.] Theju 
chosen from the senatorian and equestrian orders; Si t< lis us 

that they were persons of great abilities and uncu^tioiuble in! 



438 M. T» CICERONIS ORAflONES; 

oinnem vos habetis, ut statuatis, utrum uos, qui semper vestr® 
auctoritati dediti fuimus, semper niiseri lugeamus; ancliu vexati 
u perditifsimis civibus, aliquando per vos ae restrain fidem, vfr- 
tutem, sapientiainque reereetmu\ vQuid etiiin nobis duobus„ 
judices, laboriosiusr quid rtiugis solicitum, magis exereitum 
dici aut iingi potest? qui spe amplifsimorum praemiorum ad 
rempublicam adducti metu crudelifsiniorum suppliciorum carere 
non pofsumus. Equidem cveteraa tempestates et procelias in 
iilis duntaxat fiuctibus concioninn semper putavi Miloni else 
subeundas, quod semper pro bonis contra improbos senserat : 
in judicio vero et in eo consilio, in quo ex eunctis ordinibus 
amplifshni viri judicarent, nunquam existimavi spem uliam efse' 
habituros Miionis inimieos, ad ejus non salutem modo exstin- 
guendani, sed etiam gkmaiB per tales viros infringendam. 
Quanquam in hac causa, judices, T. A/mi tribunatu, rebusque 
omnibus pro salute reipublicic gestis, ad hujus criminis dei'en- 
sionem non abutemur, ( & ) nisi oculis videritis insidias Miloni a 
Clodio efse factas: nee deprecatun simms, ut crimen hoc nobis, 
jnulta propter prseclara in rempublicam merita coridonetis: nee 
postulaturi, ut, si mors P. Clodii salus vestra fuerit, idcirco earn 
virtuti Miionis potius quam populi Romani felicitati afsignetis; 
sin illius insidiae clariores hac luce fuerint, turn denique obse- 
crabo obtestaborque vos, judices, si caetera amisimus, hoc sal- 
tern nobis ut relinquatur, ab inimicorum audaeia telisque vitam 
ut impune liceat defendere. 

III. Sed antequam ad earn orationem venio, quas est propria 
nostras quaestionis, videntur ea efse refutanda, quas et in senatu 
ab inimicis saepe jactata sunt, et in concione saepe ab impro- 
bis, etjam paullo ante ab accusa«toribus ; ut omni errore sub- 
lato, rem plane, quae venit in judicium, videre pofsitis. ( 7 ) Ne- 
gant intueri lucem efse fas ei, qui a se hominem occisum efse 
fateatur. In qua tandem urbe ; hoc homines stultifsimi disputant ? 
neinpe in ea, quae prjmum judicium de capite vidit ( 8 ) M. Ho- 
rat'u fortifsimi viri : qui Bortdum libera civitate, tamen populi 



(6) Nisi oculis videriiisjjisidias Miloni a Clodia factas. ~\ Several of Milo's 
friends were of opinion, Hiat he should defend himself, by avowing the 
death of Clodius to be an act of public benefit: but Cicero thought that 
defence too desperate, as it would disgust the grave and considerate, by 
opening so a great a door to licence 5 and offend the powerful, lest the 
precedent should be extended to themselves. Accordingly he chose to 
risk the cause on another ifsue, and laboured to show that Clodius lay in 
wait for Milo, and contrived the time and place ; and that Milo's part 
was but a necefsary act of self-defence. He does not preclude himself 
however by this from the other plea, which he frequently takes occasion 
to insinuate, that if Milo had really designed and contrived to kill Clodius, 
he would have deserved honours instead of pnnishment, for cutting off so 
desperate and dangerous an enemy to the peace and liberty of Rome, 

(7) Negant mtueri lucem efse fas ei, qui a se hominem occisum efse fate- 
atur.'] The three tribunes who were hi opposition to Milo, declared for 
his being put to death ; alleging, that a man who confefses he has killed 



CICERO S OR | 439 

you to exert this power, in determining 

r been devoted to your authoi 11 
of our days in grief and miseri ; or aftei 

insulted by the most abandoned citizens, shall \ 
your mean-, by your fidelity, virtue and wisdom, 
wonted lite and vigour. Fur what, my lords; can I < 
or conceived more grievous to us both, what m 
trying, than that we, who entered into I 
from the hopes of the highest honours, cannot even 
the apprehensions of the severest punishments? Fof my own 
part, I always took it for granted, that the other storms and tem- 
pests which are usually raised in popular tumults would 
upon Milo, beeause he has constantly approved him 
friend of good men, in opposition to the bad ; but in a public 
trial, where the most illustrious persons of all the ordei 
state were to sit as judges, I never imagined that Milo's enen 
could> have entertained the least hope" not onlv of destroy 
his safety, while such persons were upon the bench, but even 
giving the least stain to his honour. In this cause, mv lords, I 
shall take no advantage of Annius's tribuneship, nor of his im- 
portant services to the state during the whole of his life, in order 
to make out his defence, unlefsyou shall see that Clodius him- 
self actually lay in wait for him ; nor shall Iintreat you to grant 
a pardon for one rash action, in consideration of the main glo- 
rious things he has performed for his country ; nor require, that 
if Clodius's death prove a blefsing to you, you should asm! 
rather to Milo's virtue, than the fortune of Koine ; but if it 
should appear clearer than the day, that Clodius did really I 
wait, then I must beseech and adjure you, my lords, that ii 
have lost every thing else, we may at least be allowed, without 
fear of punishment, to defend our lives against the insolent 
tacks of our enemies. 

Sect. III. But before I enter upon that which is the propei 
subject of our present inquiry, it will bo neoefsary to conl 
those notions which have been often advanced bv our enemies 
in the senate, often by a set of worthlefs fellows, and «. 
lately by our accusers before an afsembly, that 
moved all ground of mistake, you may have a dearer vicv 
the matter that is to come before you. They say, that a man 
who confefses he has killed another, ought not to be 
to live. But where, pray, do these stupid people use this 
gument ? why, truly, in that very city where 
that was ever tried for a capital crime was the brave M. Hora- 

another, should not be allowed to live. Cicero refutes this argun 
very artful manner, by producing several parallel cases from t!. . 
of Rome. 

(8) M. Horatii, fortifsimi oiri.'l This was the M. Hoi 
both his brothers were slain, kriled the three Curiatii in tha 
bat, under the reign of Tullus EosUiius, *hich gave i< 



440 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONESi 

llomani comitiis liberates est, cum sua manu sororem interfec- 
tam else fateretur. An est quisquam qui hoc ignoret, cum de 
homine occiso quseratur$ aut negari solere omnino efse factum \ 
aut recte ac jure factum else defendi ? Nisi vero existimatis de- 
mentem P. Africanum fuifse, qui cum a C. Carbone tribuno 
plebis in concione (9) seditiose interrogaretur, quid de Tiberii 
Gracchi moi te sentiret, respondit, ( IO ) jure csesum videri. Neque 
enim pofsetaut Ahala ille Servilius, aut P. Nasica, aut L. Opi- 
mius, aut C. Marius, aut me consule, senatus non nefarios ha- 
beri, si sceieratos cives interfici nefas efset. Itaque hoc, judices^ 
lion sine causa etiam fictis fabulis doctifsimi homines memoriae 
prodiderunt, eum, qui patris ulciscendi causa matrem necavifset, 
variatis hominum sententiis, non solum divina, sed etiam JDeae 
sapientifsimaesententia liberatum. (") Quod si duodecim tabulae 
nocturnum furem quoquo modo: dittrnum autem, si se telo de- 
fenderit, interfici impune voluerunt; quis est, qui, quoquo modo 
quis interfectus sit, puniendum putet, cum videataliquando gla- 
dium nobis ad occidendum hominem ab ipsis porrigi iegibus ? 

over her mother Alba. As he was returning after so glorious a victory in a 
sort of triumph, his temples encircled with a crown the king had put upon 
his head, and his shoulders loaded with the spoils of the three Curiatii, to 
his great surprise, he beheld his sister unaccompanied by her mother, and 
without any attendance, hurrying forward in the promiscuous crowd to* 
meet him. One of the Alban champions had been her lover, and was to 
have been her husband. Upon the first report of his being slain, she had 
stolen from her mother, and was come, running like a distracted creature, 
to learn the certainty of his fate ; and when she saw the conqueror bearing 
in triumph her lover's military robe (which she had wrought with her own 
hands) stained with his blood, she tore her hair, beat her breast, and re- 
viled her brother in the bitterest exprefsions. HorathiSj warm with slaugh- 
ter, and enraged at these reproaches, and the untimely grief of his sister* 
killed her upon the spot; and, without sign of pity or remorse, went 
straight on to his father's house, who approved of the cruel deed, and re- 
fused to let his daughter be buried in the sepulchre of her famiiy. Hora- 
tius was arraigned before king Tullus, upon an accusation of murder, and 
some of the most eminent of the citizens concerned themselves in the pro- 
secution. The king, to avoid the odium he might bring upon himself, by 
either acquitting or condemning the criminal, turned the affair into a state 
crime, and, calling the people together, named two commifsionersj or du- 
umviri, to try him as a traitor. The fact of which he was accused being 
notorious, and not disowned by him, the duumviri, without delay, pro^ 
nounced sentence against him ; and the executioner had already laid hold 
of him, when, by the king's advice, he appealed to an afsembly of the 
people; which, through admiration of his courage, rather than for the jus- 
tice of his cause, revoked the sentence that had been pafsed against him. 
However, that the crime might not go wholly unpunished, they con- 
demned him to pafs under the yoke, an ignominy to which tkey usually 
subjected prisoners of war who had cowardly surrendered their arms. 

(9) Seditiose interrogaretur ] C. Papirius Carbo, in his tribuneship, 
warmly espoused the cause of the people against the nobility. One day, 
in a public afsembly, he called to Scipio Africanus,' and asked him, what 
he thought of the death of Tiberius? meaning probably, by T this question, 
to draw an answer from him that would hurt his credit either with the se- 
nate or the people. Scipio without hesitation declared, that, in his opinion. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 441 

tius; who, before the state was in pofselsion of its liberty, n 
quitted by the comitia of the Roman people, though h< 
he had killed his sister with his own hand. ( '.in 
ignorant as not to know, that in cases of bloodshed, the 
either absolutely denied, or maintained to bi id lawful ? 

Were it not so, P. Africanus must be reckoned out of Ins 1 
who, when he was asked in a seditious manner, by the tribune 
Carbo, before all the people, what he thou^ hr of Grace! . ; 
said, that he deserved to die. Nor can Ahala Servilius, P. \ 
L. Opimius> C. Marius, or the senate itself, during mv 1 
be acquitted of the most enormous guilt, if it be a crime to put 
wicked citizens to death. It is not without reason therefore, my 
lords, that learned men have informed us, though in a fabujoua 
manner^ how that, when a difference arose in regard to th( 
who had killed his mother in revenge for ins father's death, lie 
was acquitted by a divine decree, nay by a decree of the goddefs 
of Wisdom herself. And if the twelve tables allow a man, with- 
out fear of punishment, to take away the life of a thief in the 
night, in whatever situation he finds him; and, in the day time, 
if he uses a weapon in his defence; who can imagine that a 
person must universally deserve punishment for killing another, 
when he cannot but see that the laws themselves in some eases 
put a sword into our hands for this very purpose ? 

"' - ~ -I'll ■!■—-.— ... 

Tiberius was justly slain. And when the multitude let him know their 
displeasure by a loud cry, he boldly returned, * Cease your noise) do you 
f think by your clamour to frighten mo, who am used, unterrified, to hear 
* the shouts of embattled enemies/ 

(10) Jure ccesumvideri.'] Tiberius Gracchus, in his tribuneship, revived 
the Agrarian law of Licinius Stolo, the total neglect of which was extremely 
prejudicial to the republic. This drew upon him the displeasure of the se- 
nate and the rich; who took the fatal resolution, upon this occasion, of 
having recourse to arms and slaughter; and afsafsinated, before the temple 
of Jupiter Capitolinus, a magistrate, whose person, by the laws, was sacred 
and inviolable. Mr. Guthrie, in his notes upon this pafsage, charges Grac- 
chus with being the author of.many seditions, and with violently oppressing 
the state ; but it would be difficult, we apprehend, to support such a charge, 
So far, indeed, was Gracchus from violently opprefsing the state, that he 
generously undertook to humble the proud and aspiring nobility, and to 
deliver the poor from their violent opprefsions, and lost his life in the pur- 
suit of so glorious an enterprise. If his view of his character and conduct 
be impartially considered, we cannot but think, with one of the most judi- 
cious of modern historians, that he must appear the most accomplished 
patriot ever Rome produced. 

(11) Quod si duodceim tabulce nocturnum fnrem?\ In the beginning of the 
Roman state, there was no certain standard of justice and equity ; but every 
thing was managed by the sole authority of the kings. As the consuls suc- 
ceeded to the regal power, they likewise succeeded to the prerogative of 
distributing justice, by themselves, or their patrician substitutes; and the 
judicial proceedings for manv years depended only on custom, and th 
Went of the court. At last, to redrefs this inconvenience, commit 

sent into Greece, to make a collection of the best laws for t' 
their country ; and, at their return, the DcccvrAri were created, • 
them into twelve tables. Cicero pafses high encomiums on these lav. 
gives it as his opinion, that they were to be preferred to whole literal 

the philosophers The law referred to in this pafs.ige runs tl 

is attacked by a robber i/i the tttfht kt him not be punished if hi 



442 M. T. CICERONIS'ORATIONES. 

IV. Atqui si tempusest ullum jurebominis nccandij quaemulra 
sunt, certe illiul est non modo justum, yerumetiarn necelsarium, 
cum vi vis alata detenditur. ( I2 ) Pudicitiam cum eriperet militi 
jtribunus militaris in exercitu 0. Marii, propinquu^ ejus impera- 
tqris'j interreatus ab eo est, cuj vim ailerebat; iacere enim prof 
bus acJolescens periculose, quam perpeti turpitcr inaluit; atque 
liunc ille vir summus scelere solum m pericuio liberavit. Insi- 
diatori vero ct latroui qua: potest inierri ihjusta nex ? Quid co- 
mitatus nostri, quid giadii volunt? quos habere eerte Don lice- 
ret, si uti illis nullo pacto liceret. Kst enim Ikcc,- judices, nou 
scripta, sed nata lex: quam non didicimus, aecepimus, legi- 
nuis, verum ex natura ipsa arripuimns, hausimus, exprelsimus r 
ad quam non docti, sed racti ; non instituti, sed imbuti sumus: 
ut si vita nostra in aliquas insidias, si in vim, si in tela aut latro- 
iiuii), aut inimicorum incidilset; omnis iionesta ratio efset cx- 
pediciukc salutis. Silent enim leges inter arma, nee se exspec- 
tan jubentj cum ei qui exspectare velit, ante injusta poena lu- 
enda sit, quam justa repetenda. Etsi porsapienter,. et quodam- 
modo tacite, dat ipsa lex potestatem defendendi ; quae non mo- 
do bominem occidi, sed else cum telo hominis occidendi causa, 
vejtat; ut, cum causa, non telum quaTcretur, qui sui defendendi 
causa telo efset usus, non bominis occidendi causa babuifsc telum 
judicaretur. Quapropter hoc maneat in causa, judices ; non enim 
dubito quin probaturussim vobis defensionem nieam, si id memi- 
neritis, quod oblivisci non potestis,insidiatorcmjurc intcriici poise. 

V. Sequitur illud, quod a Milonis inimicis saDpifeime dicitur, 
caedem, in qua P. Clodius occisusest, ('?} senatum judicaise con- 
tra rempublicam efse factam. Ulam vero senatus, non sententiis 
suis solum, sed etiam studiis comprobavit. Quoties enim est 
iila causa a nobis acta in senatu ? quibus afsensionibus imiversi 



{1'2) Pudicitiain dan eriperet mititi tribmnts mifitaris in exercitu C. 
J1/<zm,]|This military tribune, according to Plutarch, who relates the story, 
was C. Lucius, the nephew of Marius. He made several unnatural at- 
tempts upon the body of oneTrebonins, a private soldier ; who, at last, to 
save his honour, put the infamous wretch to death ; and when he was sum- 
moned before Marius, defended what he had done with so much spirit and 
resolution, that his general bestowed a crown or garland upon him, as a re- 
ward of his virtue. The part Marius acled in this affair, Plutarch tells us, 
contributed mare than any thing else to rai>e him to the consulship a third 
time. 

(13) Senatmn judi cape contra rcmpubh'cam efse factam .] The senate had 
pafsed two decrees, in relation to the case of Milo; onesyas, that the mur- 
der of Clodius was an act against the state; the other, that the inter-rex, 
;;fsisted by the tribunes and Pompey, should fake- care that the republic 
received no detriment, and that Pompey in particular should raise a body 
of troops for the common security. 1 his being the case, Milo's enemie 
alleged that he was in a manner already condemned bv the senate. Ci- 
cero, in answer to this, endeavours, very artfully, to show, that Milo's con- 
duct -was so far Jrom being condemned, that it was approved by the se- 
nate. Milo, he alleges, was not affected by that decree of the senate which 
<!< ciarcd the murder of Clodius to be an act against the state, since it. was 
not such through his intention, being committed in self- defence, to which 
He had a natura! right* 



CICERoVs ORATION'S. 

Sect, IV. But if any circumstance can be ail 
doubtedly there are many such, in which the pul 
death can be vindicated, that in which ■ person h 
the principle of self-defence, must ccrtainlj 
ent to rentier the action noi onl\ just, bill n \\ hen a 

military tribune, a relation ot ( \ Mai ins, i , lUia | 

attempt upon the body of a soldier in that general's 
was killed by the man to whom lie otl'cr 
tnons youth chose rather to expose his lite to hazard, 
mil to such dishonourable treatment ; and he was acmiittC I b\ 
that great man, and delivered from all apprelu anions of ^\.r 
lint what death can be deemed Unjust that is irtriicto I oil on I 
who lies in wait for another, on one who is a public robber? 
To what purpose have we a train of attendants 
they furnished with arms? It would certainly he unlawful to 
wear them at all, if the use of them was absolutely forbid. Per 
this, my lords, is not a written, but an innate law ; \w have noi 
been taught it by the learned, we have not received it from our 
ancestors, we have not taken it from b>oks; hut it is d< 
from, it is forced upon us, by nature, and stamped in indelible 
characters updn our very frame: it was not conveved to us by 
instruction, but wrought into our constitution ; it is the dii 
not of education, but instinct, that if our lives should be at any 
time in danger from concealed or more open afsaults of robbers 
or private enemies, every honourable method should he taken 
for our security* Laws, my lords, are silent amidst arms ; nor 
do they T require us to wait their decisions, when by such a delay 
one must sutler an undeserved punishment himself, rather than 
indict it justly on another: Even the law itself, very wisely, 
and in some measure tacitly, allows of self-defence, as it does 
not forbid the killing of a man, but the carrying a weapon in 
order to kili him : since then the strefs is laid not upon the wea- 
pon, but the end for which it was carried) he that make 
of a weapen onlv to defend himself, can never he condemn 
wearing it with an intention to take away a man's lite. Ti 
fore, my lords, let this principle be laid down as the foun ' 
of our plea: for I don't doubt hut I shall make out my ch-: 
to your satisfaction, if you only keep in min.l what 1 think it id 
impoisible tor you to forget, that a man who lies in wait for ^wo- 
tiler, may he lawfully killed. 

Si: OT; V. I come now to consider what is frequently i:i- 
Upon by Milo's enemjes ; that the killing of P. Ciodius has 
declared by the senate a dangerous attack upon the state. Bui 
the seriate lias declared their approbation of it, not only by their 
saftrages, hut by tin* warmest testimonies in favour of Mdo. 
For how often have 1 pleaded that very cause before them ; 
great was the salisfa* tion of the whole ordei ? bow loudlv. 



41-4 JUT. T. . CICBR,ONIS 0RATI0NES. 

ordinis? quam nee taeitus,nec occultis ? quando enim frequent- 
iisimo scnatu quatuor* ad summum quinque sunt inventi, qui 
Milouis causam non piobarent? (Mj Declarant hujus ambusti tri- 
buni plebis ilia; inter mortiv^conci ones, quibusquotidie meam po- 
tentiam invidiose criminabatur, cum diceret, senatum non quod 
sentirct, sed quod ego ve31em,deeernere. Ques quidem si potentia 
est appellanda potius, quam propter magna in rerapublicam me- 
rita, mediocris in bonis causis uuctoritas, aut, propter omciosos. 
labores meo.s, nonnulla a pud bonos gratia," appelletur ita sane, 
dununodo eii nos utamur pro salute bonorum contra amentiam 
perditoruna. Hanc vero quaestionem, etsi non est iniqua, nun- 
quam tamen senatus constituendam putavit : erant enim leges, 
erant qusestiones vel de caide,, vel de vi : nee tautum moeroreni 
ac luctum senatui mors P. Clodii afferebat, ut nova qurcstio 
eonstitueretur. ( ,5 ) Cujus enim senatui de illo incesto stupro 
judicium decernendi potestas efset erepta ; de ejusinteritu quis 
potest credere senatum judicium novum constituendum putafse ? 
Cur igitur incendium curia?, ( ,6 ) oppugnationem medium M. 
Lepidi, ea?dem hanc ipsam, contra rempub. senatus factum efee 
decrevit ? Quia nulla vis unquam est in libera civitate suscepta 
inter cives n>o^ contra rempubtiearm Non enim est ulla defensio 
contra vim unquam optan da, sed nonn unquam est necefsaria ; 
nisi vero aut ille dies, in quo Tiberius Gracchus est eaofus, aut 
ille, que- Caius, aut quo arma Satuniini opprefsa sunt, ejtianasi 
e republ. remp. tamen nert vulnerarunt. 

. VI. Xtaque ego ipse decrevi, cum csedem in Appia factam efse 
eonstaret, noiieura, qui se defendifset, contra rempubl. fecifse, 
sed, cum mefseti in re vis, et insidije, crimen judicio reservavi,. 
rem notavi. Quod si per furiosum ilium tribunum senatui, quod 
sentiebat^ periieere licuifset, novam qusestionem nunc nullam 
haberemus ; decernebat enim, at veteribus legibus tantum modo- 
extra ordinem qua?reretur ; ('?) di visa sen tentia est, postulante 

(14) Chclarant hujus ambusti tribuni plebis illce intermortu<£ condones.'] 
The following note of iNsconius illustrates this pafsage. Titus Munacius 
Plancus, says he, el Q. P&mpeius Rujits tribuni plebis , cum contra MUonem 
Scipioni et Hypscco studerenf, concinnati sunt eo ipso tempore, plebemque in 
MUonem accenderunt, a no propter Clodii \corpus, curia incersaest: nee priiis 
destiterant, quam jlarnmd ejus, incendii fugati sunt e condone. Erant &nim 
:'imc rostra nqu, eo toco, quo nunc stmt, sed ad comitium, prope juncta curice . 
Ob hoc T. Munacium am bust urn tribunum appellaf. 

(15) Cujus enim de illo incesto stupro judicium decernendi polesl&s senatui 
efsel erepta.^ When the affair of Clodius's polluting the masteries of the 
Bona Dea- was brought before the senate, it was resolved to refer it to the 
college of priests, Who declared it to be an abominable impiety; upon 

• ">vhich die consuls were ordered to provide a law for bringing Clodius to a. 
Trial before the people. But Q. Fusius Galenas, one of the tribunes, sup- 
ported by all the Clodian faction, would not permit the law to be offered 
to the suffrage of the citizens. The affair being likely to produce great 
disorders, Ijortensins proposed an expedient, which was accepted bv 
both parties, that the tribune Fusius should publish a law for the trial of 
Clodius by the prator, with a select bench of judges. 



publicly did they applaud ino' In the fullest house, when 
were there found four, at most live, who did not gpc 
Milo's conduct? ThU appears plainly Groin the lifeld 

of that singed tribune, in which tic was continually in in 
against my power, and alleging that the senate, ii 
did not follow their own judgment, but were entirely un 
direction and influence. Which if it most be calh 

rather than a moderate share of authority in just and lawful 
cases, to which one may be entitled by lervieei to his t 
or some degree of interest with the worthy part of mankind, m, 
account of my readinefs to exert mvself in iln 
cent; let it be called so, provided it is employed for the pi 
teetion of the virtuous against the fury of rurhans. But ih 
this extraordinary trial, though I do not blame it, yot tin 
never thought of granting it; because we had laws and prece- 
dents already both in regard to murder and violence : nor did 
Clodius's death give them so much concern as to occasion an 
extraordinary commiision. For if the senate was deprive*! 
the power of pafsing sentence upon him for an incestuous de- 
bauch, who can imagine they would think it necel'sarv to grant 
any extraordinary trial for inquiring into his death ? Win then 
did the senate decree, that burning the court, the al'sault upon 
M. Lepidus's house, and even the death of this man, were actions 
injurious to the republic ? because every act of violence commit- 
ted in a free state by one citizen against another, is an act against 
the stabe. For even force in one's own defence is never desir- 
able, though it is sometimes necefsary ; unlefs indeed it be pre- 
tended that no wound w r as given the state, on the day when the 
(^rracchi were slain, and the armed force of Saturninus crushed. 

Sect. VI. When it appeared, therefore, that a man had 
been killed upon the Appian way, I was of opinion that the 
party, who acted in his own defence, should not be deemed 
an enemy to the state ; but as both contrivance and force had 
been employed in the affair, I referred the merits of the cause 
to a trial, and admitted of the fact. And if that frantic tri- 
bune would have permitted the senate to follow their own 
judgment, we should at this time have had no new commifsion 
for a trial: for the senate was coming to a resolution, that 
the Cause should be tried upon the old laws only, not 
cording to the usual forms. A division was made in the vote, .1 



( 1 6) OpptigTiationcm tedium M. Lcpidi.'] Manutius tells us that the fa< 
of Scipio and ilypsams stormed the house of M. Lepkiu*, the intl 
threw clown the images of his ancestors, and committed a vaiitty of out- 
rages, because he would not hold the comitia for the election of consul*, 
whilst the resentment of the populace was fresh against M 

(17) Divisa sententia est :\ When any opinion, proposed 10 the Bi 
was thought too general, and to include several difiti 

f f 3 



4-Io M. T. GICERONIS ORATIONES. 

liescio quo; nihil enhn necefse est oinnium me flagitia proferre; 
tic reliqua auctoritatis senatus, empta. intercefsionc, sublata est. 
At enim C'n. Pompcius rogatione sua et de ve ct de causa judi- 
cavit; tulit en i ill de casde, qujc in Appia via facta efset, in qua 
P. Clpdius occisus fuit ; quid ergo tulit ? nempe, ut qua:reretur ; 
quid porro quuerendum est ? factumne sit? at constat; a quo ? 
at patet; yidit etiam in confefsione facti, juris tauten defensio- 
iiem suscipi pofse; ( l8 ) quod nisi vidifset, poise absolvi eum, 
qui lateretur: cum videtet uosfateri; neque quacri unquamjul'sis- 
set, nee vobis (' 9 ) tarn salutarem banc in judicando lite rani, quain 
iilam tristem dedifset. JVIiln vero Cn. Pompeius non modo nihil 
gravius contra Milonem judieaise, sed etiam statnifse videtur, 
quid vos in judicando spectare oporteret ; nam qui non pcenam 
conieisioui, sed defensionem dedit, is causam interitus quaren- 
dam j non interitum putavit. Jam illud dicet ipse prpfccto, quod 
sua sponte fecit, Publione Clodio tribuendum putarit, an tempori*, 
VII. Domi sure rjpbilifsimus vir, seuatus prppugnator, atque 
jllis quidem temporibus pene patronus, avunculus bujus nostri 
judicis, fortifsiml viri, M. Catonis, [V) tribunus pleb. M. Drusus 
occisus est; nihil de ejus morte populus consultus, nulla quaestio 
decreta a senatu est. Quantum luctum in hae urbe fuifse a, 
nostris patribus accepimus, ( 2i ) cum P. Africano domi sine 
quiescent! ilia nocturna vis efset ijlata ? quis turn non gemuit ? 
quis non arsit dolore? quern immortalem, si fieri pofset, onines 
else cuperent, ejus ne necefsariam quidem expectatam else mor- 
tem ? Num igitur ulla qiuestio de Africani morte lata est r certe 

which might be approved, and others rejected; it >vas usual to require that 
it might be divided ; and sometimes by a general voice of the afsembly, 
calling out, Divide, divide. 

(18) Quod ?ii$i vidifset, pofse ahsolvi eum > qui fateretur.'] It is very observ- 
able with what addrefs Cicero conducts himself, in regard to Pompey, 
through the whole of this oration, lie was very sensible what weight and 
influence Pompey had, and of what consequence it was to his cause to 
haw? it thought that he was Milp's friend: accordingly he insinuates, in a, 
very artful manner, that he was, though he well knew the contrary. 

(ID) Tarn salutarem hanc in judicando lifer am, quamijlam tristem ~\ He 
means the letters A and C; the first of which the judges wrote on the ta- 
blets, if they meant to acquit, and the other if they meant to condemn: 
on which account the termer is called salutaris, the latter Irislis. bee 
note 12th on the oratioji against Cxpilius. 

(20) Jributiusplebis J\l. Drusus occisus est.'] M. Liyius Drusus was a tri- 
bune in the year of Borne 631. He was a man of good parts, natural and 
acquired; a great orator, and very rich. The senate, by their solvations, 
e ri r"? ,fli ^ h)}V Jo combine with them against his colleague C. Gracchus,, and 
alMsud him in procuring a decree for planting twelve new colonies, each 
%){ three thousand Komans. in order to supplant paitis in the esteem of the 
people, though without any view to their real advantage. ' He afterwards 
incurred the displeasure oi the senate, and was aiVafsinated in his attempt 
o: publishing a law to confer the freedom of the city upon some of the 
principal tounsof Italy, to whom he had promised it, and who had formed 
themselves into a confederacy in order to support their demand of it. 

(21) Cum J\ Ajricano domi sine quiescenti itla nocturna vis efset illata.~\ 
' r h;s was i\ Africamis Minor. There are various reports about the vio- 






crim< 



[•e ]U'->t I know not; for it is no 
Klines of every one. Tims the remainder of I 
tiioi?itV w.N destroyed bV a mercenary interposition. Hut k 
said that l\mipey,' by the bill which lie brought in, decided 
both uponthe nature of the fact in general* and the nv 
this cause in particular 1 } for lie published a h\\ con< 
encounter in the Appian way, in which P. Clodius was kil!< 
lint, what was the law? whv, that inquiry should he in., 
it. And what was to be inquired into ? Whether the tact m 
committed? hut that is not disputed. By whom? thai 
clear; for Pompey saw, though the fad was contclsed, that the 
justice of it might he defended. If he had not seen that a per 
'son might be acquitted, after making his contbfeuM 
would have directed any incjuiry to be made, nor have put into 
your hands, mv lords, "an acquitting as well as a favourable 
letter. But Ctt. Pompey seems, to me, not only to have de- 
termined nothing severe against Milo, but even to have pom: 
out what you are to have in view in the course ot the trial. ! 
he who did not punish the confefsion of the fact, but allowed 
a defence, was surelv of opinion that the cause ot the bloods! 
was to be inquired into, and not the tact itselt. I refer it to 
Pompey himself, whether the part he acted m this attair pro- 
ceeded from his regard tq the memory ot P. Clouius, or lrom 
his regard to the times. 

Sect, VII. M. Drusus, a man of the highest qualm 
fender, and iu those times almost the patron of the senate^ 
uncle to that brave man M. Cato, now upon the bench, and tri- 
bune of the people, was killed in his own house; and yet 
people were not consulted upon his death, nor was anv commis- 
sion for a trial granted by the senate on account ot it. Wl 
deep distrefs is said to have spread over the who e City, v 
}>. Africanus was afsafsinated in the night-time as he lay on Ins 
own bed? What breast did not then sigh, what heart « 
not pierced with grief, that a person, on whom the wishes 
of all men would have conferred immortality, could fishes 
have done it, should be cut oif by so early a tat no 

decree made then tor an inquiry into African™ s deathj No 
And why? because the crime is the same, whether ^chara 

kne* done* to him, Se^thors of it. Appian wjMh. 

dead in his bed in the nwuing, without any «■ ; ' • ■ 

having b r cond«cu.llu,molrom ^^Z^ 

Whole body of the senators. \ 'latarc lit «» ™» ""\ v|olence; ( |, lt 

^p^red, on the dead bodv, some mark* o » - ' | 

people accused 1- ulvius , African* 9 dc 1. I c »> . 

iuspVion even of Caius Grarehu>; and that the pw £ 

heUndiguUty/woaldnotsuto.any^ 

variety el reports about the violence d| ne > i 

that prejudice and party-sp.nt invented he lul c, * 

a natural death, which, according to N cllqiM I At 

qF most authors. 



44$ M. T. C1CER0NXS ORATIONES. 

nulla. Quid ita ? quia non alio facinore clari homines, alio ob~ 
scuri nccantur. Intersit inter vitse dignitatem summorum atque 
infimoruin : mors quidem illata per scelus iisdem poenis tene- 
atur et legibus; nisi forte magis erit parricida, si quis consula- 
rem pattern., quam si quis humilem necaverit: aut eo mors atro- 
cior erit P. Clodii, quod is in monumentis majorum suorum sit 
interfectus; hoe enim seepe ab istis dicitur ; peri nde quasi Ap- 
pius ille Csecus viam munierit, non qua populus uteretur, sed 
ubi impime sui posteri latrocinarentur. Itaque in eadem 
ista Appia via, ■(") cum ornatifsimum equitem Rom. P. Clodius 
M. Papirium occidifset, non fult iilud f acinus puniendum ; homo 
enim nobilis in suis monumentis equitem Roman, occiderat.- 
dNuoc ejusdem Appiae nomen quantas tragcedias excitat? quae 
cruentata antea c*de honesti atque innocentis filebafur, eadem 
nunc crebro usurpatur, posteaquam latronis et parricidae san- 
guine imbuta est. Sed quid ego ilia commemoro ? ( 23 ) compre- 
iiensus est in teniplo Castoris servus P. Clodii, quem ille ad 
Cn. Pompeium interficiendmn collocarat; extorta est confitenti 
sica de manibus ; caruit foro postea Pompeius, caruit senatu, 
caruit publico ; janua se ac parietibus, non jure legum judici- 
oruiiique texit. NUm quae rogatio lata? num quae nova queestiq 
decretaest? atqui si res, si vir, si tempus ullum dignum fuit, 
certe haec in ilia causa summa omnia fuerunt ; irisidiator erat iii 
foro collocatus, atque in vestibulo ipso senatus : ei viro auteiii 
inors parabatur, cujus in vita nitebatur salus civitatis : eo porrO 
reipub. tempore, quo si unus ille occidifset, non haec solum ci- 
vitas, sed gentes omnes concidifsent; nisi forte, quia perfecta 
res non est, non fuit punienda : perinde quasi exitus rerum, non 
hominum corisilia legibus viodicentur; minus cfoiendum fuit, re 
non perfecta, sed puniendum certe nihilo minus. : Quoties 
ego ipse, judices, ex P. Clodii teiis et ex cruentis ejus manibus 
erfugi ? ex qiiibus si me non vel mea, vel reipUb. fortuna seN 
vafset, quis tandem de interitu meo quaestionem tulifset? 1 ■ ' ' * 



(22) Cum ornatifsimum equitem Romanum P. Clodius M. Papirium occi* 
difsei.~\ Clodjus had, by stratagem, - got into his hands the son of king 
Tigranes, whom Pompey brought with him from the East, and kept a pri-r 
soner at Rome, in the custody of Flavins the praetor; and instead of de* 
livering him up when Pompey demanded him, undertook, for a large sum 
of money, to give him his liberty; and send him home. This occasioned a 
sharp engagement between him and Flavius, who marched out of Rome, 
"with a; body of men well armed, to recover Tigranes by force: but Clodius 
proved too strong for him, and killed a great part of his company; and 
among them M. Papirius,Pompey's intimate acquaintance, while Flavius 
also himself had some difficulty to escape with life. •-■ 

(23) Comprehensus est in teniplo Castoris. ~\ This 1 temple was contiguous 
to the forum and the senate-house. It was built by Posthumius in honour 
of Castor and Pollux, who were said to have appeared during the battle 
of Ilegillus upon white horses, to have marched at the head of the Roman 
cavairy, striking terror among the Latins; and in the evening, after the 
battle, to have carried the first news of the victory to Rome, 



CICERO'S QRATIONS. 449 

»of the persons that suffer be illustrious or obscure. Grant that 
there is a difference as to the dignity of their Jiv. • fieir 

deaths, when they are the effect- of villany, are judged by the 
same laws, and attended by the same punishments: un 
be a more heinous parricide for a man to kill his father, il 
be of consular dignity, than if he were in a privatt : or 

the guilt of Clodius's death be aggravated by his being killed 
amongst the monuments of his ancestors; for that too has !•• 
urged ; as if the great Appius Caecus had paved that road, 
for the convenience of his country, but that hi .-, ,,rht 

have the privilege of committing acts of violence with tin 
nity. And accordingly when P. Clodius had killed M. Papi- 
rius, a most accomplished person of the equestrian order, on 
this Appian way, his crime must pafs unpunished; for a noble- 
man had only killed a Roman knight amongst the monuments 
of his own family. Now the very name of this Appian way, 
what a stir does it make ? what was never mentioned while it 
was stained with the blood of a worthy and innocent man, is in 
every one's mouth, now it is dyed with that of a robber and a 
murderer. But why do I mention these tilings } one of ( 
dius's slaves was seized in the temple of Castor, where he Mas 
placed by his master, on purpose to afsafsinate Poinpey: he 
confpfsed it, as they were wresting the dagger out of his hands, 
l^ompey absented from the forum upon it, he absented from the 
senate, he absented from the public. He had recourse, for his 
security, to the gates and walls of his own house, and not to 
the authority of laws, or courts of judicature. Was any law 
pafsed at that time ? was any extraordinary commifsion granted ? 
And yet, if any circumstance, if any person, if any juncture ever 
merited such a distinction, it was certainly upon this occasion. 
An afsafsin was placed in the forum, and in the very porch of the 
senate-house, with a design to murder the man, on whose life 
depended the safety of the state, and at so critical a juncture of 
the republic, that if he had fallen, not this city alone, but the 
whole empire must have fallen with him. But poisibly you may 
imagine he ought not to be punished, because his design did 
not succeed; as if the succefs of a crime, and not the intention 
of the criminal, was cognizable by the laws. There ^vas lefs 
reason indeed for grief, as the attempt did not succeed ; but 
certainly not at all the lefs for punishment. How often, my 
lords, have I myself escaped the threatening dagger, and bio, 
hands of Clodius ? from which, if neither my own good for- 
tune, nor that of the republic, had preserved me, who would 
ever have procured an extraordinary trial upon my death ? 



430 M. T. CICi-RONIS ORATIONEi. 

VIII, Sed sttilti suinus, quid Drusum, qui Africa mini, Poitn 
■ nimii, nosmctipsos, cnin P. Ciodio conferre audeamus; tolerfc 
luiia foeraht ilia; P. Clodii mortem aequo aninio nemo ferre po- 
test ; lugct senates : nucret equester ordo : tota civitas confecta 
senio est: squalent nmnicipia : affhetantur colonic: agri de- 
jiiquc tjjsi tain benelicum, fcafn saiutarem, tarn mansuetum ci- 
vom desiderant. Noil fuit ea causa, judices, profecto non fuit, 
ear sibi censeret Pompeius qiuest ionem ferendam : sed homo 
sapiens, et alta, et diviria quadam mente prreditus, multa vidit ; 
fuifsc sibi ilium inimicum, familiarem IVlilonem •■ in communi 
omnium lajtitia si efeiafti ipse gauderet, timuit no videreturinfir- 
raior fides reconciliata' gratia? ; multa etiam alia vidit, sed illud 
maxime; quamvis atrociter ipse tulifset, vos tamen fortiter ju- 
dicatures. Itaque deleget e florentifsimis ordinibus ipsa Ju- 
mina: neque vero, (fuod nonnulli dictitant, secrevit in judicibus 
legendis amieos meos : neque enim hoc cogitavit vir justifsimus, 
neque in bonis viris legendis id afscqui potuifset, etiamsi cupi- 
ii'set ; non enim mea gratia familiaritatibuscontinetur, quae late 
patere non pofsunt, propterea quod consuetudines victds non 
' pofsunt efse cum muitis ; sed si quid pofsumus, ex eo 
polsaruus, quod respublica nos conjunxit cum muitis; ex qui- 
bus Hie cum optimos viros legeret, idque maxime ad fid cm suam 
jiertinere arbitraretur, non potuit legere non studiosos mei. 
Quod vero te, L. Domiti, buic quaestioni praeefse maxime vo- 
Juit, nihil quaesivitaliud, nisi justitiam, gravitatem, humanitatem, 
iklem; tulit ut consularem necefse efset : credo, quod principuni 
inunus else ducebat resistere et levitati multitudinis, et perdito- 
rmn temeritati ; ex consularibus te creavit potifsimum ; ( Z4 ) de- 
deras enim, quam contemneres populares insanias, jamab ado- 
lescentia documenta maxima. 

IX. Quamobrem, judices, ut aliquando ad causam crimenque 
.veniamus ; si neque omnis confeisio facti est inusitata, neque de 
causa quidquam nostra aliter, ac nos vcllemus, a senatu judica- 
tutu est ; et Jator ipse legis, cum efset controversia nulla facti, 
juris 'tamen deceptutionem efse voiuit: et electi judices, iisque 

(?t) Dt deras enim cpiam contemneres populares insanias, jam ab adolcs- 
cculia documenta maxima'] He refers to Domitius's conduct in his praetoi- 
sbip, during which Cn. Manlius, one of the tribunes of the people, enacted 
a law, that the free dm en of every tribe should have, a power of voting, 
and took pofsefsion of the capitolin a forcible manner, from which he was 
urivefi 'In- Domitius, and several of his followers slaiu. ' ; 



ClCERu% ott'A'Tft 

Skct>. V- 111. But it is weak in on 
Drusus, Africanus, Pompev, br-iftiyself, with CI. . 
lives could be dispensed with; bat a death of P. 

<lius, no one can bear it with unv degree of pi 
senate mourns, the equestrian order is filled with di 
whole city is in the deepest affliction, the corpori 
all in mourning, the colonies an- overw helmed with norrc 
fi word, even the fields themselves lament tl 
rous, so useful, and so humane a citizen. But f 
is by no means the reason why PotApey thought himsi 
to appoint a commifsion lor a trial ; being a man 
doin, of deep and almost divine penetration, he took a 
variety of things into his view. ile considered that CI 
hail been his enemy, that Milo was his intimate friend, and was 
afraid that, if he took his part in the general joy, it wouJd 
der the sincerity of his reconciliation suspected. Many 
tilings he saw, and particularly this, that though he had . 
a severe law, you would act with becoming resolution e 
trial. And accordingly, in appointing judges, he si le< U 
greatest ornaments of the most illustrious orders of t lie si 
nor in making his choice, did he, as some have pret< 
aside my friends. For neither had this person, so eminent for 
his justice, any such design, nor was it polsible for him to have 
made such a distinction, if only worthy men were chosen, even 
if he had been desirous of doing it. My influence is not con- 
fined to ray particular friends', my lords, the number of whom 
pan not be very large, because the intimacies of friendship can 
extend but to a few. If I have any interest, it is owing to tins, 
that the affairs of the state have connected me with the virtuous 
and worthy members of it; out of whom when he chose the 
most deserving, to which he would think himself bound in ho- 
nour, he could not fail of nominating tho>e who had an affection 
for me. But in fixing upon you, L. Domitius, to ] 
this trial, be had no other motive than a regard to ju 
interestednefs, humanity, and honour. lie enacted, that the 
president should be of consular rank? because, i bii 
was of opinion, that men of distinction i . 
against the levity of the populace, and the ni 
(Joncd. And he gave you the prelercr. 
same rank, because you had, from y< 
strongest proofs of your contempt of populai 

Sect. IX. Therefore, my lords, to come I 
itself, and the accusation brought against 
in some cases to coufel's tiie tact ; 'if the senate I 
thing with relation to our cause, but what we ours< 
have wished ; it' he who enacted the law, th< 
dispute about the mutter of tact, was willing I 



452 M. T. -CIGERONIS ORATIGNES. 

p-aepositus qu?estioni, qui hsec juste sapienterque deoeptet : relin- 
quum est, judices,ut nihil jam aliud qua3reredebeatis,nisiuter utri 
insidias fecerit ; quod o,uo faciliusargumentisperspicerepofsitis, 
rem gestam vobis dum breviter expono, quaeso diliger>ter atten- 
dee. .P. Clodius, cum statuifset omni scekre in praetura vexare 
rempub. (26) videretque ita tracta efse comitia anno superiore, 
ut non multos menses praeturam gerere pofset : qui non honoris 
.gradum spectaret, utcaeteri, sedet L. Paujum collegam effugere 
vei-let, singular! virtute civem, et annum integrum ad dilace- 
randam rempubl. quaereret; subito reliquit annum suum, seque 
m annum proximum traftstultt, -non, ut fit, religione aliqua, 
■-sed uc haberet, quod ipse dkebat, ad praeturaui gerendam, hoc 
est, ad evertendam rempubl. plenum annum atque integrum ; 
occurrebat ei, mancamacdebilempraeturam suam futuram, con- 
sule Milorae: eum porro summo consensu populi Jlomani con- 
■sulem fieri videbat ; eontulit se ad ejus -competitores ^ sed ita, 
sotam ut petitionem ipse solus, etiam invitis, illis, gubernaret: 
tota ut comitia suis, ut dictitabat, humeris sustineret $ convo- 
cabat tnbus: se interponebat : Coliinam novam, delectu perdi- 
tifsimorum scribebat civiurn t quanta ille plura miscebat, ' tanto 
fete magis in dies convaleseebat. Ubi vidit homo ad omne faci- 
nus paratifsimus fortifsimum virum, inimicifsimum stium, certify 
simum consuleui ; idque inteiiexit non solum sermonibus^ sed 
etiam sumagiis populi Rom. saepe efse declaratum ; palam agere 
co&pit, et aperte dicere, occidendum Milonem ; servos agrestes 
et barbaros, quibus silvaspublicas depopulates erat,Etruriamque 
vexarat, ex Appennino deduxerat, quos videbatis; reserat mi- 
nime obscura; '-etinim palam dictitabat, eonsulatum Miloni 
eripi non poise, vitam pofse ; significavit hoc saepe in senatu, 
dixit in concione : quin etiam Fovonio/fortifsimo viro, qua?renti 
ex eo, qua spe fureret Milone vivo? respondit, triduo, ilium, 
sd sumnvum quatriduo periturum ; quam yocem ejus ad nunc M. 
Cantonem statim Favonius detulit. 

X. Interim cum sciret Clodius, (nequeenim erat difficiles cire,) 
iter solemne, iegitimum necefsariumante diem xiii. kalend. Febr. 



(25) Videretquc ita tracla efse comitia anno superiore.'] The factions of 
t% city, and the seditious conduct of the tribunes, had prevented the elec- 
tioH of consuls, and occasioned an interregnum of upwards of six months: 
so- that Mefsala and Calvinus did not hold the consulship " above fiye 
tftOaVhs, which was probably the case with the prxtprs too. 



CICERO'S OR 

of it should be debated ; if a number i 

and a person appointed to presi< 

yafstho atiair with wisdom and ccjuii 

ject of your inquiry is, which of tin 

other. And that you may be able the more i 

this point, I shall beg the favour of an atteni 

in a few words, I lay open tlie whole ill.. 

dins being determined, when created pra 

country with every species of oppn 

mitia had been delayed so long the year befi 

not hold his office many months ; not re 

the dignity of the station, but being solicitous both to u 

having L. Paulus, a man of exemplary virtue, tor his 

league, and to obtain a whole year tor oppretsin^ the 

on a sudden threw up his own year, and reserved 

the next; not from any religious scruple, but that lie n 

have, as he said himself, a full en 

pnstorship ; that is, for overturning the commonwealth. H<- 

was sensible he must be controlled -and cramped in t h 

of his praetorian authority under Mdo, who, he plainlv 

would be chose consul by the unanimous consent off the H 

people. Accordingly he joined the candidates that opposed 

Milo, but in such a manner that he over-ruled them in i 

thing, had the sole management of the election, and, i 

•ased often to boast, bore all the comitia upon his own shoulder-. 

He afsembled the tribes ; he thrust himself into their compels, 

and formed a new Collinian tribe of the most abandoned of the 

citizens. -The more contusion and disturbance he made, the 

more Milo prevailed. When this wretch, who was bent upon 

all manner of wickednei's, saw that so brave a man, and his 

most inveterate enemy, would certainly be consul, when he 

perceived this, not only hy the discourses, but by the w 

Roman people, he began to throw off all disguise, and to d- 

openlv that Milo must be killed. He sent for that rude 

barbarous crew of slaves from the Apennines, whom you haw; 

seen, with whom he used to ravage the public fol 

harafs Etruria. The thing was not in the least 

he used openly to say, that though Milo could not be depi 

of the consulate, he might of his lif .ten mtn 

in the senate, and declared it exprelslv before t : 

somuch that when Favomus, that brave mat 

prospect he could have of carrying on his fui 

while Milo was alive? he replied, that in three or tour 

most he should be taken out of 

immediately communicated to M. Cato. 

Sect. X. In the mean tioi 
deed was there any difficulty to Q0OM at the mU 



4SI M.'T. CICERONIS ORATIONES; 

Miloni efse ( s6 ) Lanuvium ad Flaminem prodendum, quod efat 
dictator Laimvii Milo, Roma suhito ipse profectus pridie est, ut 
ante suum fumdum (quod re intellectum est) Miloni insidiascol^ 
loearet ; atque ita profectus est, ut concionem turbulentam, in 
qua ejus furor desideratus est, quae illo ipso die babitn est, rclin- 
queret : quam, nisi obirc faeinoris locum tempusque voluifset, 
nunquam reliqnifset.- Milo autem cum in senatu fuifset eo die, 
quod senatus diimiaus est/ doinum venit : ( 2/ ) calccos et . vesti- 
menta mutavit : paulisper dum se uxor, ut fit, comparat, 
commoratiis est: deinde profectus est id temporis, cum jam 
Clpdius, si quidem eo die Romam venturus erat, rcdire po-* 
tuifset; obviam fit ei Clodiu-s expeditus, in equo, nulla rhedfiy 
mdiis impedimentis, ( iS ) nullis Gr&cis comitibus, ut solebal ; 
( 2C >) sine uxore, quod nunquam fere : cum bic insidiator, qui. 
inter iikid ad eieciem faciendam apparafset, cum uxore vehere- 
tur in rheda, penulutus, magno et impedito, et muliebri ac de- 
licato ancillarunvpnerorumque cdmitatu ; fit obviam Clociio ante 
fundum ejus, bora fere xvndecima, aut non multo secus;.- statin* 
compjures cum telis in hunc faciunt de loco-superiore impetum : 
adversi rhedarium occidunt : cum autem bic de rbeda rejecta 
penula, desiluifset, seque aeri amino defenderet ;■ illi, qui erant 
cum Ciodio, gladiis eduetis, partim reeurrere ad rbedam, ut a 
tergo Milonem adorirentur j partim, quod hunc jam interfectum 
putarent, csedcre incipiunt ejus servos, qui post erant : ex qui- 
bus, qui animo fidelt in dominum et praesenti fucrunt, partim 
occisi sunt, partim cum ad rbedam pugnari viderent, et domino 
suceurrere prohiberentur, Milonemque occisum etiam ex ipso 
Clouio audirent, et revera putarent ; fecerunt id scrvi Miloni5v 
(dicam enim non derivandi criminis causa, scd ut factum est) 
neque imperante, neque sciente, neque pnesente domino, quod 
suos quisque servos in tali re .fa-cere voluifset. 

(26) Lanucium ad Flcmiinem prodcudum.~\ r Lanuvium was a municipal 
town in the Appian way, about twelve miles from Koine. The famous 
temple of Juno Sospila" was in it, to officiate i'n which a priest was yearly 
nominated by a magistrate called the dictator. 

(27) Calceis et 'vtstimenfa mutavit.'] The Roman senators were distinguished 
from all the other citizens by the ornaments of their ordinary dtck and 
habit, especially by their vest or tunic, and the fashion of their shoes ; of 
which the old writers make frequent mention. The peculiar ornament of 
their tunic was the latus clavus, as it was called, being a broad stripe of 
purple sewed upon the fore part of it, and running down the middle ot the 
breast, which was the proper distinction between them and the knights, 
who ware a much narrower stripe of the same colour, and in the same 
manner- The fashion also of their shoes was peculiar, and different from 
that of the rest of the city. This difference appeared in the colour, shape, 
and ornament of the stioes. The colour of them was black? the form 
somewhat like to a short boot, reaching up to the middle of the leg, as 
they aresomelimes seen in ancient statues and bafs-reliefs ; and the proper 
ornament of them was, the figure of an halj-moor. sewed or fastened upon 
the fore-part of them near the ancles ; designed, according to some writers, 
tt> expiefs the letter C, the numeral marjc of au hundred, which was the 
original number of the; senate when it was first instituted by Romulus* 



CltEHo'l O&AtlO 

Milo was obliged, by the eighteenth erf .Jam,. 

vium, where he was dictator, in order m noniiu 

duty which the laws rendered ncceisurj bo be p 

year; he went suddenly from lloinoithe daj bcl 

as appears by the event, to way-lay Milo, in 

and this at a time whdn lie was obli 

atsomhly, whicli he had waranioned t ; i.it very d 

presence was oecefsary to carry on his mad 

he never would have done, if he had no1 

the advantage of that particular time and pii 

his villany. But MUo, alter ha\ i in the - 

till the house was broke up, went home, ehan 

clothes, waited a while, as usual, till h:> wif 

attend him, and then set; forward about the timi 

if he had proposed to come hack to Rome tin 

returned. Clodius meets him, equipped lor an 

on horseback, without either chariot or b:i 

Grecian servants; and, what was more extraordinary, without 

his wife: while this Iver-in-wait, who had contrived tin 

on purpose for an afsalsi nation, was in a chariot with his wife, 

muffled up in his cloak, encumbered with a crowd of sen 

and with a feeble and timid train of women and b >vs. lie 

meets Clodius near his own estate a little before sun-set, and is 

immediately attacked by a body of men, who throw their i 

at him from an eminence, and kill his coachman- Upon which 

he threw off his cloak, leaped from bis chariot, and defei 

himself with great bravery. In the mean time Clodius 1 

tendants drawing their swords, some of them ran back to the 

chariot, in order to attack Milo in the rear, whi! il 

thinking that hewas already killed, fell upon Ins servants who 

were behind : these,, being resolute and faithfnl to their in 

vere, some of them, slain; Avhilst the rest, seeing a warm 

gagement near the chariot, being prevented from 

their master's afsistance, hearing besides from Clodiud 

that Milo was killed, and believing it to be a fact, acted 

this occasion (I mention it not with a view to elude til 

tion, but because it was the true state of the ease) withou 

orders, without the knowledge, without the presence 

master, as every man would wish his own servants shod 

in the like circumstances. 



(28) Nullis Gratis comihhusA It was customary tor the richei 
Romans to entertain in their Jkmiscs scholars and pli 
Greece, who generally accompanied them when th 
tg amuse or instruct them. 

('iy) Sine uxore.] Clodius had for his wife 01 
wards married to Antony. She was a perfect fui 1 ; *uch, 'tis said, w 
implacable hatred lo Cicero, that, after his deal 
rage upon his- head, spit upon it,andtbrust a I 





456 M. T. CICEHONIS OHATIONE5, 

XL Hsec, sicut exposuij itagesta sunt, judices : insidiafeor stf- 
peratus, vi victa vis* vei potius opprefsa virtute audacia est*. 
Nihil dico, quid respublica conseeuta sit, nihil quid vos, nihil' 
quid omnes boni: nihil sane id prosit Miloni, qui hoc fato natus 
est, ut ne se quidem servare potuerit, quin una rempublicairij 
vosque servaret ; si id jure non pofset, nihil habeo quod de- 
fendam ; sin hoc et ratio doctis, et necefsitas barbaris^ et mos 
gentibus, et feris natura ipsa praescripsit, ut omnem semper 
vim, quacunque ope pofsent, a corpore, a capite, a vita sua 
propulsarent; non potestis hoc facinus improbum judicare, 
quin simul judicetis, omnibus qui in latrones inciderint, aut illc~ 
rum telis, aut vestris sententiis efse pereundum. Quod si ita 
putafset; certe optabilius Miloni' fait dare jugulam- P. Clodio^ 
non semel ab illo, neque turn primum petitum ; quam jugulari 
a vobis, quia se ill i non jugulandum tradidifset ; sin hoc nemo 
vestrum ita sentit: illud jam in judicium venit, non, occisusne 
sit, quod fatemur : sed jure, an injuria: quod multis antea in 
causis jam quaesitum est. Insidias factaseise constat: et id est 
quod senatus contra rempublicam factum judicavit: ab utro 
factse sint, incertum est ; de hoc igitur latum est ut quaereretur. 
Ita et senatus rem, non hominem notavit, et Pompeius de jure 3 
non de facto, qu&stionem tulit. 

XII. Nunquid igitur aliud in judicium venit, nis^ uterutri in- 
sidias facerit ? profecto nihil ; si hie illi ; ut ne sit impune : si 
ille huic ; turn nos scelere solvamur. Quonam igitur pacto 
probari potest, insidias Miloni fecifse Clodium? satis est qui- 
dem in ilia tarn audaci, tarn nefaria bellua docere, magnam ei 
causam, magnam spem in Milonis morte propositam, magnas 
utilitates fuifse. ( 30 ) Itaque illud Cafsianum, CUI BONO 
EUERIT? in his personis valeat ; etsi boni nullo emolumenta 
impelluntur in fraudem, improbi sespe parvo. Atque, Milone 
interfecto, Clodius hoc afsequebatur, non modo ut praetor 
efsetnon eo consule, quo sceleris nihil iacere pofset: sed itiam 
ut his consulibus praeter efset, quibus si non adjuvantibus, 



(30) Hague illud Cafsianwm.~] We are told by Asconius, that Cafsius was 
a man of great severely; and that when he was examiner in any case of 
murder, he always exhorted, .nay commanded the judges to inquire what; 
prospect of advantage could arise to the murderer from the fact. Valerius 
JMaximus, B. 3. chap. 7. says, that his tribunal, on account of his exceftive 
severity, was called the, rock of criminals. 



Sect. XL This, my lord 
of fact: the person who lay in wail wai hiinsclfc 
force subdued by force, or r.uiier audaciousnc 
valour. I say nothing of the advantaei 
state in general, tu yourselves in particular , and tQ 
I am content to wave the argument J might draw 
favour of my client, whose destinj 
could not secure his own safety, without at 
that of the republic at the same time. If lie c 
lawfully^ there is no room for attempting his dofi 
reason teaches the learned, necefsity the barbarian, 
custom all nations in general, and even nature itself m- 
brutes to defend their bodies, limbs, and lives wheq ait.:. 
by all pol'sible methods, you cannot pronounce this i 
initial, without determining at the same tune, that whoever fails 
into the hands of a highwayman, must of necefsity perish either 
by his sword or your decisions. Had Milo been of this opi 
he would certainly have chosen to have fallen by the hand of 
Clodius, who had more than once before this made an attempt 
upon his life, rather than be executed by your order, b« 
he had not tamely yielded himself a victim to his rage. But if 
pone of you are of this opinion, the proper question is, not 
whether Clodius was killed? for that we grant: but whether 
justly or unjustly? an inquiry, of which many precedents are 
fro be found. That a plot was laid, is very evident; and this is 
what the senate decreed to be injurious to the state: but by 
which of them laid, is uncertain. This then is the point which 
the law directs us to inquire into. Thus, what the senate de- 
creed, related to the action, not the man ; and Pompey eua 
not upon the matter of fact, but pf law. 

* Sect. XII. Is nothing else therefore to be determined but this 
single question, which 1 of them way-laid the other? Nothing, 
certainly. If it appear that Milo was the agmrelsor, 
favour; but if Clod'tus, you will then acquit us of the 
that has been laid to our charge. What method then can we 
take to prove that Clodius lay in wait for Milo ? it is 
considering what an audacious abandoned w retch be \\ 
show that lie lay under a strong temptation to it, that he I 
ed great hopes, and proposed to hi. sat adyanta 

Milo's death. Let that question of Cafsius f 
tcrcst was it ? be applied to the present case. For I 
sideration can prevail upon a good man to be guilt\ i 
action, yet to a bad man the least prospect oi a Ivan i 
often be sufficient. Bv Mile's death, v 
his point of being praetor, without that 
yersary's power as consul would have laid U] 
signs, but likewise that of being prcctor under th< 



458 M. T. GICERONIS ORATIONES, 

at connivcntibus certe spcrafsetse poise rempublicam eludere in 
pllis suis cogitatis furoribus; cujus ilii conatus, ut ipse ratiocina« 
biitur, nee .si pofsent, reprimere cuperent, cuin tantum beneficium 
ei se debere arbitrarentur ; et, sj vellent, tbrtd-fse vix pofsent 
frangere hominis sceieratifsinii corroboratam jam vetustate auda- 
ciam. An vero, judices, vos soli ignoratis? vos hospites in hac 
nrbe versammi ? yestrse peregrinantur aures, neque in hoc perva- 
gato eivitatis sermone versantur, quas ihe leges (si ieges nomi- 
nandee sunt, ac non fasces urois et pestes reipublica?) t'uerit im- 
pdskuris nobis omnibus, atque inusturus? Exbibe, quscso, Sexte 
Clodi, exbibe iibrarium iliud legum vestrarum, quod te aiunt 
eripuifse e domo, el ex mediisarmis turbaque nocturna, (-') tan^ 
quam Palladium, sustulnse, ut praecLrum viuelieet munus ac 
instrumentum tribunutiis ad aliquem, si nactus eises, qui tuo aiv 
bitrio tribunatum gereret, deterre poises. pj; aspexit me qu'u~ 
dem ill is oculis, qtubus turn solebat, cum omnibus omnia mina? 
batur ; -( sz ) movet me quippe lumen curiae. 

XIII. Quid? tu me iratum, Sexte, putas tibi, cujus tu inimi- 
cifsiniiini multo crudehus etiam punitut> es, quam erat humani- 
talis nieffl postuiare ? Tu P. Clodii cruentum cadaver ejecisti 
domo: tu in publicum an, ecisti: tu ( 33 ) spoliatum imaginibus, 
exscquiis, pompa, laudatione, infeiicifsimis lignis semiustula- 
tiun, nocturnis canibus dilaniandum reliquisti; quam rem etsi 
iiecefsanp tecisti, tamen, quoniam in meo inimico crudelitatem 
;expromsisfei tuam, laudare non pofsum, irasci certe non debeo. 
f V, Clodii praeturam non sine max i mo rerum no varum metu 
proponi, et solutam fore videbatis, nisi eiset is consul, qui 
cam auderet pofsetque constringere. Eum Milonem efse cum 
sentiret universus populus Romanus, quis dubitaret suffragio 
suo, se metu, per iculo rempublicam libevare? At nunc, P. Clodio 
remoto, usitatis jam rebus enitendum est; Miloni ut tueatur 
dignitatem suam ; singularis ilia huic uni concefsa gloria, quae 
quotidie augebatur frangendis furoribus Clodianis, jam morte 
Clodii ceciOit; vos aitepti estis, ne quern civem metueretis: hie 

(31) 7 an quam Palladium.'] The Palladium was a wooden image of Pallas. 
The 'I rojans fancied that it fell from heaven into an uncovered temple, and 
";vere told by the oracle, that Troy could not be tajcen whilst that image 
remained there. Whicji being understood by Diomedes and Ulyfses, they 
])T vately stole into the temple, surprised and slew tfie keepers, andean 
ried the image away : it was brought to Rome, by whom is uncertain, 
placed in the temple of Vesta, and rescued from the flames of that edifice 
by Mctellus the high-priest. 

^2) Movet me quippe lumen curia;.'] Jocus in ambiguo, says- Abramius ; 
innuit e'nim curiat incendium cum Sextum Clodium clarifsimum senator 
rem vocare yideatur. 

(33) Spoliatum imaginibus.] We are told by Pliny, that the halls of the 
great men amongst the Romans, were adorned with the images of their de- 
ceased friends, done in wax; and that when any of the family was to l?e 
buried, these images were to be carried along with the corpse/ 



ClCERo's ORATIONS. 

whose connivances at least, if not afsistamv, be hoped he should 
be able to betray the state into the mad schemes he had b 
forming; persuading himself, that as they thought tin 
under so great an obligation to him, they woulu fa icli- 

Jiation to oppose any of his attempts, even if they should have 
it in their power; and that it' they were inclined to do it, t 1 
would perhaps be scarce able to controul the most profligate 
all men, who had been confirmed and hardened in lusaudacio 
nefs by a long series of villanies. Are you then, inv loi 
alone ignorant? are yon strangers in this cit} i lias the report, 
which so generally obtains in the town, of those laws (if ti 
are to be called laws, and not rather the scourges of the city, 
and the plagues of the republic') which he intended to have im- 
posed and fixed as a brand of infamy upon us all, never reached 
your ears ? Show us, I beg of you, Septus Clodius, show 
that register of your laws; which, they say, you rescued out 
,of his house, and carried off like another Palladium, in the 
midst of an armed force, and a midnight mob ; that you might 
have an honourable legacy, and ample instructions for some fu- 
ture tribune, who should hold his office under your direction, 
if such a tribune you could find. Now he casts a look at me, 
like that he used to afsume when he threatened universal ruin. 
I am indeed struck with that light of the senate. 

Sect. XIII. What, Sextus, do you imagine I am angry with 
you, who have treated ruy greatest enemy with more severity 
.than the humanity of my temper could have allowed me to have 
required? You threw the bloody body of P. Clodius out of his 
house, you exposed it to public view in the streets, you left it 
by night a prey to the dogs, half consumed with unhallowed 
wood, stript of its images, and deprived of the usual enco- 
miums and funeral pomp. This, though it is true you did out 
of mere necefsity, 1 cannot commend ; yet as my enemy was 
the object of your cruelty ? I ought not certainly to be angry with 
you. You caw there was the greatest reason to dread a revo- 
lution in the state from the pra;torship of Clodius, unlefs the 
man, who hath both courage and power to controul him, were 
chosen consul. When all the Roman people were convinced 
that Milo was the man, w r hat citizen could have hesitated a mo- 
ment about giving him his vote, when by that vote, he at once 
relieved his own fears, and delivered the republic from the ut- 
most danger? But now Clodius is taken off, it requires extra- 
ordinary efforts in Milo to support his dignity. That singular 
honour by which he was distinguished, and which daily increased 
by his reprefsing the outrages of the Clodian faction, vanished 
with the death of Clodius. You have gained this advant 
that there is now no citizen you have to fear ; while Mjlo 

Gg2 



460 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIQNES. 

exercitationem virtutts, suffragatioftem consulates fonlem percn- 
ncin gloHse sua? perdidit. Itaque Milonis coiisulatus, qui vivo 
Clodio labefactari non poterat, 'murtuo denique ten tar i coeptus 
est. Non modq igitur nihil prodest, sed obest etiam P. Ciodii 
mors jNIiloni. At valijit odium: fecit iratus, fecit iniipicus, fe- 
cit ultor injuria?, punitor doloris sui '; quid, hac, non dico ma~ 
iqra fuerunt in Clodio quara in Milone,' sed in illo maxima, nulla 
in hpc? quid vultis amplius ? quid enim odiisct Clodium Milo, 
segetem a<: materiem suod gloria^ prater hoc civile odium, quo 
omncs imps'obos odiums ? ille crat ut qdifset',' primum defen- 
sorem saiutis mece ; deinde vexatorem furpris, domitorem ar- 
inorum suorum ; postremo etiam accusatorem suum ; reus enim 
Milonis {**) lege Flotia fuit Clodius, quoad vixit ; quo tandem 
amnio hoc tvrannum tulifse creditis ? quantum odium illius? et 
in hoinine injusto, quain etiam justuin efse? 

XIV. Reliquum est, ut jam ijlum natura ipsius consuetudoque 
defendat; nunc autem hsec eadem coarguant; nihil per vimun- 
quam Clodius: omnia ver vim Milo. Quid ergo, judices ? cum 
moerentibus vobis urbg cefsi, judicium-ne timui ? [ iS ) non servos, 
nonarma, non vim? quaefuifset igitur causa restituendi mei, nisi 
fuifset injusta ejiciendi? Diem mihi, credo, dixerat, muitam ir-» 
rogarat, actionem perduellionis intenderat; et mihi videlicet in 
causa aut mala, autmea^ non et praeclarifsima et vestra, judiciun} 
timendum fuit; servoruin, et egentium civium et facinorosorum 
artnis meos cives, nieis cdnsiliis periculisque serva|;os, pro me ob- 
lici noliii. Vidi enim, yidi hunp'ipsum, ( i6 ) Q. Hortensium, 

(34) Lege Ploijd.~\ This law was enacted by P. Plautius, tribuhe of the 
people, afmo 675, against those that attempted any force against the state 
or senate, or used any violence to the magistrates, or appeared armed in 
public upon any ill design, or forcibly expelled any person from his law- 
ful pofsefsion. The punishment afsigned to the convicted was aquce et ig- 
nis ihterdfyctw. 

' (35)' Nan servos, von ami a, non yim.~\ When Cicero found himself re- 
duced to the condition of a criminal, by one of Clodius's Jaws, In- changed 
his habit upon it, as was usual in the case of a public impeachment, and 
appeared about the streets in a sordid or mourning gown, to excite the 
companion of his fellow-citizens ; whilst Clodius, at the head of his mob, 
contrived to meet and insult him at every turn, reproaching him for his 
cowardice and dejection, and throwing dirt and stones at him. 

(36) (~l Hor(ensium, lumen et oruavwjitum reipublicce.~\ This Hortensius 
wis a very celebrated orator ; he reigned absolute in 'the Roman forum, 
v.hen Cicero first entered it; and as bis superior fame was the chief spur 
to CiceroVindustry, so the shining specimen which Cicero soon gave of 
himself, made Hortensius likewise the brighter for it, by obliging him to 
exert ail (he force of his genius to maintain his ground against iiis young 
rival. They pafsed a great part of their lives in a kind of equal contest 
and emulation of each other's merit; hut Hortensius, by the superiorit v of 
his years, having first pal-;ed through the usual gradation of public "ho- 
nours, and satisfied his' ambition by obtaining the highest, began to relax 
Somewhat of his old contention, and give way to the charms of ease and 
luxury, to which his nature strongly inclined him, till he was forced at last, 
b> the general voice of the city to yield the post of honour to Cicero. Hq 



CICERO - -jUs. 4GI 

bad lost a fine field for displaying his valour, Un- 
supported his election, a rpctual a 
fcorajngly, Mile's election to th6 i te, which 
Jiave been hurt while Clodius was In ii 
death id be disputed; Milo, therefon 
any benefit from ClodiuVs death; that he is really 
it. But, .it maybe said that hatred prevaile I. 
resentment urged him on, that he ave 
redrefsed his own grievances. Now ij 
be applied n ly .with greater propi 
to Milo, but with the utmost propriety to the one, and 
least to the other; what more can you desire? For why 
Milo bear any other hatred to Clodius, who furnished him v 
Such a rich harvest of glorjr, but that whichevery patri 
bear to all bad men ? As to Clodius lie had mo 
bearing ill-will to Mile >: first, as my protector an 
then, as the opposer of his mad schemes, and the controulei 
his armed force; and lastly, as his accuser. For while he liv< 
he was liable to be convicted by Milo upon the Plot 
law. With what patience, do you imagifle, such an imperious 
spirit could bear this? How high must his resentment have ri 
and with what justice too, in so great an enemy to just i< 

Sect; XiV\ It remains now to consider what ai 
natural temper and behaviour will furnish out in defence of I 
one, and for the conviction of the other. Clodius never in 
use of any violence, Milo never carried any point without 
What then, my lords, when I retire 1 from this < 
you in tears for my departure, did I fear standing a trial? a 
riot rather the insults of Cloditfs's slaves, the force of arms, and 
Open violence? What reason could there be foi restoring n;e, if 
lie was not guilty of injustice in banishing me? He had 
moned me, I know he had to appear upon my trial ; ha I 
set a line upon me, had brought an action of trCas 
against me, and I had reason to fear the event of a trial, in 
Cause that Was neither glorious for you, nor very honourat) 
for myself. No, my lords, this was not the case; I was un- 
willing to expose my countrymen, whom I ha 
counsels',and at the hazard of mv life, to the swords oi 
gent citizens, and a crew of ruffians. For I saw, yes I myself I 
held this very Q, Hortensius, the light and ornament of the repu 



published several orations, which were extant long after Ins death ; 
Were much to be wished that they had remained to this day, I 
|» form a judgment qf the different talents oi these 
they are said to have owed a great part of their credit to the ad van ( 
his action, which yet was thought to have nunc of art than was 
ttf an orator, so that his compositions were not admired <o nu 
reader, us t bey hud bi 



462 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIOftES. 

lumen et oniatnentumreipublicae, pene interficiservorummanu, 
cum milii adefsejt: qua in turba C. Vibienus senator, vir opti- 
mus, cum hoc cum efset una, ita est mulcatus, ut vitam amifse- 
rit. Itaque quando illius postea sica ilia, quam a Catilina a'c- 
ceperat, conquievit ? ba?c ententata nobis est : huic ego vos objic* 
pro me non sum pafsus : hauc insidiata Pompeio est : ha>c istam Ap- 
piam viam, niomimentum sui nominis, nece Papirii cruentavit : 
hcee, h&x; caclem longo intervallo eonversa rursus est in me: 
( 37 ) nuper quidem, ut scitis, me ad regiam pene confecit. 
Quid simile Malonis? eujus. vis omnis hsec. semper fuit, ne P. 
Clodius, cum in judicium detrahi non poiset, vi opprefsam ci~ 
vitatcm teneret ; quern si in-terricere voluiiset, quanta?, quoties 
occasiones, quam prasclarse fuerunt ? potuit-ne cum .domum ac 
deos penates suos, illo oppugnante,* defenderet, jure se ulcisi? 
potuit-ne cive egregio et viro fortifsimo P. Sextio, collega suo, 
vulnerato ? potuit-ne Q, Fabricio, viro Optimo, -cum de reditu 
meo legem ferret, pulso, crudeliisirna in foro ca?de facta ? por- 
tuit-ne L, Caciiii, justifsimi, fortifsimique praetoris, oppugnata 
domo ? potuit-ne illo die, eum est lata lex de me ? cum totius 
Italia? concursus^ quem mea salus concitarat, facti illius gloriam 
libens agnovifset * ut, etiam si id Milo fecifset, cuncta civitas 
earn laudem pro sua vindicaret ? 

XV. Atqui erat id temporis elarifsimus et fortifsimus con- 
suli inimicus Clodio, P. Lentulus, ultor sceleris illius, pro- 
pugnator senat&s, defensor vestra? voluntatis, patronus il- 
lius publici consensus, restitutor salutis mea? : septem prse- 
tores, octo tribuni plebis, illius adversarii, defensores mei: 
Cn. Pompeius auctor et dux mei reditus, illius hostis: cu- 
ius sententiam senatus omnis de salute. mea gravifsimam et 
ornatifsimam secutus est: qui populum Romanum eohorta- 
tus est: qui, (38) cum de me decretum Capua? fecifset ipse 
cuncta? Italia? cupientiet ejus fidem imploranti signum dedit, ut 

ever, by the ancients, and by Cicero himself, to have pofsefsed every ac- 
complishment which could adorn an orator; elegance of style ;-aYt of com- 
position ; fertility of invention ; sweetnefs of elocution ; gracefulnefs of ac- 
tion. The prodigious strength of his memory is particularly celebrated; a 
remarkable instance of it is recorded by the elder Seneca. He under- 
took, it seems, as a proof of its force, to attend a whole day, at a public 
auction, and give an exact account of every thing that was- put up to sale, 
of the price at which it was sold, and of thename of every particular pur- 
chaser : and this he accordingly executed, without failing in. a single ar- 
ticle. Notwithstanding the rivalship between our orator and him, there 
was a mutual friendship between them. This harmony, so unusual with 
those who contend together for the same prize, was~greatly owing to the 
good offices of Atticus; who seems indeed, upon all occasions, to have 
employed the remarkable influence he had with all parties, in reconciling 
differences, and cementing friendships. 

(37) Nufer quidem ; , ut scitis y me ad regiam pene confecit.'] It is not easy 
to determine on what occasion it was that Clodins made this attack upoa 
Cicero. Asconius imagines that it was under the consulship of Domitius 
and Mefsala, when the parties of Ilypsaeus and Milo fought in the sacred 
way, and several were killed on the side of Milo. 



CICE R0\s ORATIONS. 

lie* almost murdered by the hands of slaves, while he wail 

me ; and it was in the same tumult, that C. Vibieo 
of great worth, who was in his company, was hand 
that it cost him his life. When, therefore, has thai 
which Clodius received from Catiline, rested in 
has been aimed at me; but I would not sutler you 
yourselves to its rage on my account; with it lie laid m 
for Pompey, and stained the Appian way, that uionumi 
the Clod ian tarn ily> with the blood of Papinus. The 
Very same weapon was, after a long distance of tiuu I 

against me; and you know how narrowly I escaped bein 
stroyed by it lately at the palace. What now of this Liu 
be laid to Milo's charge ? whose force has only been employed 
to save the state from the violence of Clodius, when lie could 
not be brought to a trial. Had he been inclined to kill him, 
how often had he the fairest opportunities of doing ;t : Ql 
he not legally have revenged himself upon him, when he w ; 
fending his house and household gods against his afsault ) M 
he not, when that excellent citizen and brave man, P. Sextius, 
his colleague, was wounded ? might he not, when Q. Fabricius, 
that worthy man, was abused, and a most barbarous slaughter 
made in the forum, upon his proposing the law for my restora- 
tion ? might he not, when the house of L. Ca?cilius, that upright 
and brave prsetor, was attacked ? might he not, on that cfcty 
when thelawpafsed in relation to me, — when a vast concourse 
of people from all parts of Ital» animated with a concern for 
my safety, would, with joyful voice, have celebrated the glory 
of the action, and the whole city have claimed the honour of 
what was performed by Milo alone ? 

Sect. XV\ At that time P. Lentulus, a man of distinguished 
worth and bravery Was consul j the profefsed enemy of Clo- 
dius, the avenger of his crimes, the guardian of the k 
the defender of your decrees, the support of that public union, 
and the restorer of my safety : there were seven praetors and 
eight triburies of the people in my interest, in opposition to 
him. Pompey, the first mover and patron of my return, was 
his enemy , whose important and illustrious decree for my re- 
storation was seconded by the whole senate ; who encou 
the Roman people, and when he pafsed a decree in my fi 
at Capua, gaVe the signal to all Italy, solicitous for Q 



($%) Cum de me decretum Capita fecifset.~\Vom\K\ presided in p 
the inhabitants of Capua, where he had planted a colon;. 
to Cicero's honour; he took the trouble likewise of visiting all th« 
colonies and chief towns in these parts, to appoint them a da; 
rendezvous at Rome, to ai'sist at the promulgation of the law for C 
return. 



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

ad me restituendumRomam cohcurrerent ; omnia turn detiique in 
ilium odia civiuin ardebant desiderio mei : quern qui turn in- 
tercmifset, non de impuriitate ejus, sed de praemirs cogitaretur. 
Tamen seMlo eoutmuit, et P. Clodium ad judicium bis, ad 
vim nunquam vocavit.. Quid? privato Milone, et reo ad popu- 
lumy accusante P. Clodio, cum in Cn. Pompeium pro Mil one 
dieentem impetus factus est; qua? turn non modo occasio, sed 
etiam causa illius opprimendi foit ? Nuper vero ( 3? ) cumM. An- 
tonius suimnam spem salutis bonis- omnibus attulifset, graviisi- 
mamque adolescens nobilifsimus reipub. partem fortiisime sus- 
cepilset, atque iilam belluam, judicii laqueos declinantem, jam 
irretitam teneret: qui locus, quod tempus ill ad, dii immortalesy 
fuit? cum se ille fugien's in scaiarum tenebras abdidifset, mag- 
num Miloni .fait conficere illam pestem nuUa sua invidia, An- 
tonii vero maxima gloria? Quid? eornitife in campo quoties 
potestas fuit ? cum ille vi in- septa irruifset, gladios distringendos, 
lapides jaciendos cutafset, deinde subito, vultu Milonis perter- 
ritus, fugeret ad Tiberim, vos et omnes boni vota faceretis, ut 
Miloni uti virtute sua li beret ? ' 

* 
XVI. Quern igitur cum omnium gratia noluit \ Irunc voluii 
cum aliquorum querela? quern jure, quern loco, quern -tem- 
pore, quern impune noil est ausus ; hunc injuria, iniquo loco, 
alieno tempore, periculo capitis non dubitavit occidere pras- 
sertim,' judices, cum honoris araplifsimi eontentio, et dies comi- 
tiorum subefset \ quo quidem tempore (+°) (scio enim quam ti- 
niida sit ambitio, quantaque et quam solicita cupiditis consula- 
tCis) omnia, non modo quse reprehendi palam, sed etiam 
quae obscure cogitari pofsunt timemus : rumorem, fabu- 
}am fictam, falsam perhorrescimus : ora omnium atque ocu- 
los intuemur; nihil enim est tarn molle, tarn tenerum, tarn aut 
fragile, aut flexibiJe, quam Voluntas erga nOs sensusque eivium : 



(3D) Cum. M. Antonius summam spem mlutis louiz mnnibus attulifset.'] 
It is difficult to say what part of Antony's conduct Cicero here refers to. 
Some commentators imagine, nor is it improbable, that he employed 
forcible measures in opposition to Clodius, when he was forming a new 
tribe of the scum of the citizens, and that Cicero refers to this. 

(40) Scio enim quam timida sii ambitio, quantaque et quam solicita cupi- 
diiaa consulatus.'] Cicero, in this pafsage, gives a strong and lively repre- 
sentation of the anxiety that attends a life of ambition in general ; but 
what he says is peculiarly applicable to those who aspired to any public 
dignity in Rome. For as the people of Home had much 10 give, so they 
expected to be much courted ; and, accordingly, the candidates for public 
offices were obliged to employ various arts to* recommend themselves to 
their favour, and to be extremely careful not to give the least shadow of 
offence. 



• 



and imploring his afsistance In m\ bebali 
to Rome to have my sentei>« 
were then so inflamed with i 
to me, that had he been killed at that junctui 
have thought so much ofacquftl 
by whose hand he fell. And yel Milo ! 
per, that though he prosecuted him 
ture, he never had recourse to Wo 
But what do I say r while Milo was .1 pri 
accused by Clodius before the people, h b< 
in the midst of a speech he was making in Milo 
:i fair opportunity, and I will even add, sufficient 1 
there for despatching him ? Again^ wh 
on a late occasion, raised in the- minds of all good men 
lively hopes of seeing the state in a happier conditi* 
that noble youth had bravely undertaken tin- 
country in a most dangerous quarter, and had actuall 
that wild beast in the toils of justice, which he endeavoured t<> 
avoid; immortal gods ! how favourable was the time and 
for destroying him ? When Clodius concealed himself h 
a dark stair-case, how easily could Milo 1; 
plague of his" country, and thus have heightened the glory of 
Antony, -without incurring the hatred of any ; b< 
in his power, while the comitia were held in the field! of Man ; 
When Clodius had forced his way within the inclosure, and his 
party begun, by his direction, to draw their swords, and throw 
stones; and then on a sudden, being struck with terror at the 
sight of Milo, fled to the Tiber ; how earnestly did yon, and 
every good man, wish that Milo had then displayed his valour ? 

Sect. XVI. Can you imagine then that Milo woul 
to incur the ill-will of any, by an action which he when 

it would have gained him the applause of all ? V. make 

no scruple*of killing him, at the hazard of his own life, with- 
out any provocation, at the most improper tin 
whom he did not venture to attack when he had 
side, had so convenient an opportunity, and W< 
no risque ? especially, my lords, when 
preme office in the state, and the day of his 
hand; at which critical season (for I know b how 

timorous ambition is, and what a solicitou 
about the consulate) we dread not only the 
openly be; brought against us, but even the mo 
pers and hidden surmises ; when we trembl 
every false, forged, and frivolous story ; wli 
features, and watch the looks of every one we meet. 
thing is so changeable, so ticklish, so frail, and 
the inclinations and sentiments of our fellow 



466 M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

qui non modo improbitati irascuntur candidatorum, sed etiam irt 
recto ractis ssepe rastidiunt. Hunc diem igitur campi speratura 
atque cxoptatum sibi proponens Milo, cruentis manibus sceluset 
facinus prae se ferens et contitens, ad ilia augusta centuriarum 
auspicia veniebat? quam hoc non credibjle in hoc? quam idem 
in Clodio non dubitandum quiu se ilie, interfecto Milone, reg^ 
naturum putaret ? Quid ? quod caput audacise est, judices j quis 
ignorat, maximam illeccbram efse peccandi impuuitatis spem? 
in utro igitur haec fuit? in Milone, qui etiam nunc reus est facti 
aut praeclari, aut certe necefsarii? an in Clodio, qui ita judicia 
pcenamquc contempserat, ( +r ) ut eura nihil delectaret, quod aut 
per naturam fas efset, aut per leges liceret ? Sed quid ego argu- 
mentor? quid plura disputo ? te, Q. Petili, appello, optimum et 
fortifsimum civem; te, M. Cato, testor : quos mihi divina quae- 
dam sors dedit, judices; vos ex M. Favonio audistis, Clodium 
sibi dixifse, et audistis, vivo Clodio, periturumMilonem triduo; 
post diem tertium gesta res est, quam dixerat ; cum die non 
dubitaret aperire, quid cogitaret : vos potestis dubitare, quid 
iecerit ? 

XVIL Quemadmodum igitur eum dies non fefellit ? dixi 
equidem modo. Dictatoris Lanuvini stata sacrificia nofse, ne^ 
gotii nihil erat; vidit necefse efse Miloni proficisci Lanuvmm 
illo ipso, quo profectus est, die : itaque antevertit ; at qua 
die ? quo, ut ante dixi, fuit insanifsima concio ab ipsius mer- 
cenario tribuno plebis concitata: quern diem ille^cmam concio- 
n em, quos clamores, nisi ad cogitatum facinus approperaret, 
Dunquam reliquifset. Ergo illi ne causa quidem itmeris, etiam 
causa manendi : Miloni manendi nulla iacultas, exeundi non 
causa solum, sed etiam necefsitas fuit. Quid, si, ut ille scivit 
Milonem fore eo die in via, sic Clodium Milo ne suspicari quidem 
potuit? Primum qusero, qui scire potuerit ? quod vos idem in: 
Clodio quaerere non potestis ; ut enim neminem alium, (**) nisi 
T. Patinam, familiariisimum suum, rogaiset, scire potuit, illo 
ipso die Lanuvii a dictatore Milone prodi flaminem necefse efse; 



(41) Ut eum nihil delectaret, quod aut per naturam fas efset, aut per leges 
liceret.'] What a dreadful picture bur orator here draws of Clodius ! And 
indeed if his character and conduct be duly considered, there will be no 
reason for thinking it drawn beyond the life. He was certainly one of the 
most pestilent demagogues that ever disgraced the annals, of any state; an 
open contemner of gods and men: valuing nothing but in proportion as 
it was desperate, and above the reach of others; in a word, a most profli- 
gate libertine, and audacious villain. 

(42) Nisi T. Patinam, Jamiliarifsimum suu?n.~\ Titus Patinas resided in 
Lanuvium, and was an intimate acquaintance ofClodius, 



cicero's orations. 4C7 

occasions; they are not only displeased with the dishonourable 
conduct of a candidate, but are often disgusted with his 
worthy actions. Shall Milo then be supposed, on tin 
of election, a day which he had long wished for, and impa- 
tiently expected, to present himself before that av inblv 
of the centuries, having his hands stained with blood, publicly 
acknowledging and proclaiming his guilt ? Who< an I 
of the man? yet who can doubt but that Clodius in* 
should reign without controul, were Milo murdered - \\ hai 
shall we say, my lords, to that which is the source of all auda- 
ciousnefs ? Does not every one know that the hope of imp 
is the grand temptation to the commifsion of criuu 
which of these two were the most exposed to this ? Milo, who 
is now upon his trial for an action which must be deemed at 
least necefsary, if not glorious? or Clodius, who had so thoi < 
a contempt for the authority of the magistrate, and for penalties, 
that he took delight in nothing that was either agreeable to 
nature, or consistent with law? But why should I labour this 
point so much ? why dispute any longer ? I appeal to you, Q, 
Petilius, who are a most worthy and excellent citizen ; I call you, 
Marcus Cato, to witnefs ; both of you placed on that tribunal by 
a kind of supernatural direction. You were told by M. 1 
nius, that Clodius declared to him, and you were told it in 
Clodius 7 s life time, that Milo should not live three days Ion 
In three days time, he attempted what he had threatened : if he 
then made no scruple of publishing his design, can you entertain 
any doubt of it when it was actually carried into execution ? 

Sect. XVII. But how could Clodius be certain as to the dav ; 
This I have already accounted for. There was no difficulty 

-in knowing when the dictator of Lanuvium was to perform his 
stated sacrifices.. He saw that Milo was obliged to set out tor 
Lanuvium on that very day. Accordingly he was before-hand 
with him. But on what day ? that day on which, as I mentioned 
before, a mad afsembly was held by his mercenary tribune: 
which day, which afsembly, which tumult he would never have 
left, if he had not been eager to execute his meditated villanv. 
So that he had net the least pretence for undertaking the jour- 
ney, but a strong reason for staying at home ; while Mil 
the contrary, could not pofsibly stay, and had not only a sutii- 
cient reason for leaving the city, but was under an absolute 
necelsity of doing it. Now, what if it appear, that, as Clodius 
certainly knew Milo would be on the road that day, Milo could 
not so much as suspect the same of Clodius ? First, then, 
which way he could come at the knowledge of it ? a qu 
which you cannot put with respect to Clodius: for, I 
applied to no body else, T. Patinas, his intimat 



46$ M. T. CICfcRONIS ORATION'S. 

sed erant permulti alii, ex quibus idfacillimi scire pofset, omne's 
scilicet Lanuvini. ]Milo de Clodii reditu uncle quoesivit h quse- 
sierit sane. Videtc, quid vobis largiar ; servimi etiam, ut Arrius, 
mens amicus, dixit, corruperit; Legite testimonia testium ves- 
trornm ; dixit C. Cafsinius, cognomento Scola, Interamnas, 
familiarifsimus et idem comes P. Clodii (cujus jampridem testi- 
monio Clodius eadem bora (4 3 ) Interamnaj fuerat et Rornae) P. 
Ciodium illo die in Albano mansurum fuifse ; sed subito ei 
else nuntiatumj ( 44 ) Cyrum arcbitectum else mortuum: itaque 
Roman* repente censtituifse proficisci ; dixit hoc comes item 
P. Clodii, C. Clodius; 

XVIII. Vidcte, judices, qvJ'antae res bis testimontis sint con- 
fectae. Primum certe liberatur Milo, non eo consilio profectus 
eise, ut insidiaretur in via Clodio: quippe qui ei obvius futurus 
omnino non erat; deinde (non enim video, cur non meum 
quoque agam negotium) seitis, j&dicesj fuifse, qui in hac roga- 
tione suadenda dicerent Miionis manu caedem else factum, Con- 
silio vero major/is alicujus. Videlicet me latronem ac sicanuui 
abjecti homines et perditi deseribebant. Jaeent suis testibus ii, 
qui Ciodium negant eo die Romam, nisi de Cyro auditum efsety 
rediturum fuifse. Respiravi : liberatus sum : non vefeor, ne, 
quod ne suspicari quidem potuerim, videar id cogitafse. Nunc 
persequar caetera; nam occurrit illud : igitur-ne Clodius quidem 
de insidiis cogitavit, quoniam fuk in Albano niansurus, si qui- 
dem exiturus ad caedem e villa non fuifset^ video enim ilium, 
qui dicitur de Cyri morte nuntiafse, non id nuntialse, sed 
Milonem appropinquare ; nam quid de Cyro nuntiaret, quenr 
Clodius Roma proficiscens reliquerat xnorientem ? una fui : testa- 
men turn simulobsignavi cum Clodio: testamentum autem palam 
fecerat, et ilium heeredem et me scripserat ; quern pridie hora 
tertia animam efflantem reliquifset, eum mortuum postridie 
hora" decima denique ei nuntiabatur? 



(43) In teramncB fuerat ] Interamna was a city of Umbria; and was so 
called, because it was situated between two rivers. The moderns call 
it Term. 

(44) Cyrum architeclum efse mortuum. ~\ Cicero makes mention of this" 
Cyrus in his letters to Atticus, and to his brother Quintus > but we have' 
no account of him in history. 



fraye informed him, that Milu, i 
was obliged to create a priest there on that i 
there were many other persons, all the inli.il> 
indeed, from whom he might havi 
of intelligence. But of whom did Mifu iiiqain 
return? J shall allow, however, that he did In 
shall grant farther, with my friend Arrius, so libci 
concessions, that he corrupted a slave. Head the 
is before you: C. Cal'sinius of Interamna 'surnau 
intimate friend and companion of P. Clodius, who nv 
former occasion that Clodius was at Interamna and at 
the same hour, tells you that P. Clodius intended to ha 
that day at his seat near Alba ; but that hearing \ i 
pectedly of the death of Cyrus th. jt, he d< 

immediately to return to Rome. The same evident 
in by C. Clodius, another companion of P. CJodi 

Sect. XVIII. Observe, my lords, how much this 
makes for us. In the first place, it plainly appears, thai Milo 
did not undertake his journey with a design to way-lay Clodius, 
as he could not have the least prospect of meeting him. lu 
the next place, (for I see no reason why I should not likewise 
speak for myself,) you know, my lords, there were pe 
wiio, in their zeal for carrying on this prosecution, di 
scruple to say, that though the murder was committed b 
hand of Miio, the plot was laid by a more eminent person 
a word, those worthlefs and abandoned wretches repre 
me as a robber and an aisafsin. But this calumny is confuted 
by their own witnelses, Avho deny that Clodius wqujd 
turned to Rome that day, if he had not heard of the 
Cyrus. Thus I recover my spirits; I am acquitted, an 
under no apprehensions, lest I should seem to I 
what I could not so much as have suspected. Proci 
to their other objections: Clodius, say they, had no 
thought of wav-htying Milo, because lie was to have 
at Aibanum., and would never have gone from his counti \ 
to commit a murder. But 1 plainly perceive, t 
who is pretended to have informed him of Cyru 
informed him of Milo's approach. For why infoi 
death of Cyrus, whom tjodius, when lie went, 
expiring? I was with him, and sealed up his tt 
Clodius; for he had publicly made his will, I 
Clodius and me his heirs. Was a mefsenger sent him then 
by four o'clock the next day, to acquaint him with tin 
^person whom, but the day before, about nine in 
be Had left breathing his last? 



470 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XIX. Age, sit ita factum : quae causa, cur Romam propera- 
ret? cur in noctem se conjiceret? quid afferebat festinatio? 
quod litres erat? primuin erat nihil, cur properato opus efset: 
deinde, si quid efset, quid tandem erat, quod ea nocte consequi 
pofset; anutteret autem, si postridie mane Romam venifset? 
Atque ut illi nocturnus ad urbem adventus vitandus potius, quam 
expetendus fuit: sic Miioni, cum insidiator efset, si ilium ad 
urbem noctu accefsurum sciebat, subsistendum atque expectan- 
dum fuit. Noctu, invidioso et pleno latronum in loco occi- 
diiset; nemo ei neganti non credidifset, quern efse omnes sal- 
vum, etiam confitentem, volunt. Sustinuifset hoc crimen pri- 
mum ( 4s ) ipse ille latronum occultator, et receptator locus, dum 
neque muta solitudo indicafset, neque caeca nox ostendifset 
Milonem: deinde ibimultiab illo violati, spoliati, bonis expulsi, 
muJti etiam haec timentesin suspicionem caderent; totadenique 
rea citaretur Etruria. Atque die illo certe Aricia rediens de- 
vertit Clodius ad Albanum ; quod ut sciret ilium Milo Ariciae 
fuifse, suspicari tamen debuit, eum, etium si Romam illo die 
reverti vellet, ad villain suam, quaeviam tangeiret, deversurum; 
cur neque ante occurritj ne iii villa resident ; nee eo in loco 
subsedit, quo ille noctu venturus efset? Video adhuc constare 
omnia, judices: Miioni etiam utile fuifse, Clodium vivere; illi, 
ad ea quae concupierat, optatifsimum interitum Milonis fuifse : 
odium fuifse illius in hunc acerbifsimum, in ilium hujus nullum ; 
consuetudinem illius perpetuam in vi inferenda ; hujus tantum 
in repellenda : mortem ab illo denuntiatam Milbni, et praedica- 
tam palam; nihil unquam auditum ex Milone: profectionis 
hujus diem illi notum: reditum illius lruic ignotum fuifse: 
hujus iter necefsarium; illius etiam potius alien um ; hunc prae 
se tulifse se illo die Roma exiturum; ilium eo die se difsimu- 
lafse rediturum: hunc nullius rei niutafse consilium; ilium 
causam mutar.di consilii finxifse : hie, si insidiaretur, noctem 
prope urbem exspectandam ; illi, etiam si hunc non timeret^ 
tamen accefsum aci urbem nocturnam fuife metuendum. 



(45) Ipse ille latronum occultator ; et receptator locus J] In the Appian way- 
stood the tomb of one-Basilius; a place which had become famous for the 
many murders committed at it." 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. \7\ 

Sect. XIX. Allowing it, however, to 
there for hurrying back to Homo; for what did h 
night-time? what occasioned all this despatch ? \\ 
he was the heir? In the first place, tins required no lui 
in the next, if it had, what could be bai 
he must have lost, bad lie come to Home only I 
And as a journey to town in the night was rather to I 
than desired by Clodius, so if Milo had form< 
his enemy, and had known that be was to return to 
evening, he would have stopped and waited for him. He i 
have killed him by night in a suspicions place, infested with 
robbers. No body could have disbelieved him if he h 
the fact, since even after he iias eoniefsed it, every one i 
eerned for his safety. First of all, the place itself would 
been charged with it, being a haunt and retreat for ro 
while the silent solitude and shades of night must have con< 
Milo; and then, as such numbers had been afsaulted and plun- 
dered by Clodius, and so many others were apprehensive of -the 
like treatment, the suspicion must naturally have fallen upon 
them; and, in short, all Etruria might have been prosecuted. 
But it is certain that Clodius, in his return that da)' from Alicia, 
called at Albanum. Now, though Milo had known that Clodius 
had left. Aricia, yet he had reason to suspect that he would call 
at his seat, which lies upon the road, even though lie was that 
day to return to Rome. Why then did he not either meet him 
sooner, and prevent his reaching it, or post himself where he 
was sure Clodius was to pafs in the night-time ? Thus far, my 
lords, every circumstance concurs to prove that it was for Milo s 
interest Clodius should live; that, on the contrary, Milo's death 
was a most desirable event for answering the purposes of Clo- 
dius; that on the one side, there was a most implacable hatred, 
on the other, not the least; that the one had been continually 
employing himself in acts of violence, the other only in op- 
posing them; that the life of Milo was threatened, and his 
death publicly foretold by Clodius, whereas nothing of that kind 
was ever heard from Milo; that the day fixed for Milo's journev 
was well known to his adversary, while Milo knew nothing 
when Clodius was to return; that Milo's journey was nec< 
but that of Clodius rather the contrary ; that the one openly de- 
clared his intention of leaving Rome that day, while the other 
concealed his intention of returning ; that Milo made no alter- 
ation in his measures, but that Clodius feigned an excuse for 
altering his; that if Milo had designed to way-lay Clodius, he 
would have waited for him near the city till it was dark, but 
that Clodius, even if he had been under no apprehensions from 
Milo, ought to have been afraid of coming to town so late at 
flight. 



472 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XX. VidfeamuS nunc id, quod caput est: locus ad insidias ilk* 
ipse, ubi congieisi sunt, utri tandem fuerit' aptior ? Id vero, ju r 
dices, etiam dubttandum, et diutius cogitanojum. est? ante fun*. 
cliun Clodii : quo in fundo propter insanas iljas substructiones 
facile mille hoiuinum versabatur valentium ? edito atq'ue excelso 
loco superiorem se fore putabat Milo, et qb earn rem eum locum 
ad pugnam potisimum delegerat? an in eo loco est potius exr 
spectatus ab eo, qui ipsius loci spe facere impetum cogitarat? 
lies loquitur, judices, ipsa: qua? semper valet plurimum ; si hree 
non gesta audiretis, sed picta videretis: tame.n appareret, uter 
efset insidiator, uter nihil cogitaret mali ; cum alter veheretur 
in rbeda penulatus, una sederet uxor; quid horum non impe- 
ditifsimum? vesting an vebiculum, an comes? quid minus 
proniptum ad pugnam ? cum penult irretitus, rheda impeditus ? 
uxore pene constrictus efset. Videte nunc ilium, primum egre- 
dientem e villa subito ; cur vesperi ? quid necefse est tarde ? 
qui convenit, prajsertim id temporis? Devertit in villam Pom- 
peii. Pompeium ut videret? sciebat in i^lsiensi efse ; villain 
ut perspiceret ? millies in ea fuerat: quid ergo erat morse et 
tergiversationis? dum hie yeniret ? locum relinquere noluit. 

XXI, Age, nunc iter expediti latronis cum Milpnis impedi- 
mentis comparate. Semper ille antea cum uxore; turn sine 
ea : nunquam non in rheda ; turn in equo : comites Graxmli, 
quocunque ibat, ( 4<5 ) etiam cum in castra Etrusca properabat ; 
turn nugarum in cpmitatu nihil. Milo, qui nunquam, turn 
casu pueros symphoniacos uxoris ducebat et ancillarum gre- 
ges ; ille qui semper secum scorta, sempter exoletos, sempec 
iupas duceret ; turn neminem, nisi ut virum a vjro lectum 
efse diceres. Cur igitur vietus est ? quia non semper viator a, 
latrone, nonnunquam etiam latro a viatore occiditur: quia, 
quariqia&m paratus in imparatos Clodius, tanien mulier incide- 
rat in viros ; nee vero sip erat unquam non paratus Milo contra 
ilium, ut non satis fere efset paratus;. semper ille, et quan- 
tum interefset P. Clodii se perire, et quanto ilii odio efset, et 



(46) Etiam cum in castra Etrusca properabat.'] Cicero frequently charges 
Clodius with having had a share in Catiline's conspiracy ; and this is what 
he refers to here. For Clodius, as we are told by Asconius, left Rome in 
order to join the camp of Catiline, when it lay at Fesula? in Tuscany : but 
after he had set out, he repented, and returned to the city. 



413 

ct. XX. Let us now consider tin- principal p 
tin*, place where they encountered was most tat mrabj 
pr to Cioclius. But can there, my lords, be any room tor <l<>u!)i, 
Ot for any farther deliberation upon, thai : 1; v as near the 

of Cioclius, where at least a thousand able-bo 
ployed in his mad schemes of building. Did Milo 
should have an advantage by attacking him. from, an em/m 
and did he for this reason pitch upon that spot for th< 
merit? qr was he not rather ekpected in that phi 
versary, who hoped the situation would favour hi 
The thing, my lords, speaks for itself, whiph must be all 
to he of the greatest importance in determiqing a que 
Were the affair to be represented onlv hy painting, in ite 
being exprefs-ed by words, it would even then clearly ap 
which was the traitor, and whjch was free from all mischievous 
designs; when the one was sitting in his chariot muffle. I up i i 
his cloak, and his wife along with him. Which of thes< 
enmstances was not a very great incumbrance ? the drel's, the 
chariot, or the companion ? How could he be worse equipped lo- 
an engagement, when he was wrapt up in a cloak, embarrafsed 
with a chariot, and almost fettered by his wife; ? Observe the 
now, in the first place, sallying out on a sudden from his 
for what reason r. in the evening ; what urged him? late; to 
what purpose, especially at that season ? He calls at Pomj 
seat; with' what view? To see Pompey? he knew he \, 
Alsmm. To see his house ? he had been in it a thousand t 
What then could be the reason of this loitering and shitting 
about? he wanted to be upon, the spot when Milo. came up. 

Sect. XXI. Now please to compare the travelling equi] 
of a determined robber, with that of Milo. — Clodius, before that, 
day, always travelled with his wife; he was then without her: 
he never used to travel but in his chariot ; he was then on I: 
back: he was attended with Greeks wherever lie we 
when he was hurrying to the Tuscan camp ; at that time ne had 
nothing insignificant in his retinue, Milo, contrai 
manner, happened then to take with him his wifi ' », and 

a whole train of her women: Clodius, who never failed to carry 
bis whores, his Catamites, and his bawds along with turn, was 
then attended by none but those who seemed to d out 

by one another. How came, he then to be overcome 
the traveller is not always killed by the robber, but 
the robber by the traveller ; because th< 

pared, and fell upon those who were unprej Iqdius 

■was but a woman, and they were men. Nor in - Milo 

ever so little unprepared, as not to be a in . 
at any time. He was always sensible ho 
interest to tret rid of him, what an ihveterate 

. 9 H h 



474 M. T. CICERPNI$ ORATI0NE$. 

turn ille auderet, cogitabat; quamobrem vitam suam quam maxi~ 
mis pramiis propositam et pene addictam sciebat, nunquam iq 
periculiim sine presidio et sine custodia projiciebat. Adde 
casus, adde inccrtos exitus pugnarum, Martemque communem ; 
qui sa^pe spoliantem jam et exsultantein evertit et perculit ab 
ubjecto ; adde inscitiam pransi, poti, oscitantis ducis; qui cum 
a tergo hbstem lnterclusuin reliquilset, nihil de ejus extremis 
eomitibus cogitavit: in quos inc,ensos if a! vitamque clqmini des- 
perantes cum incidifket, ha^sit in iis pcenis, quas ab eo servi 
fideles pro dbmini vita expetiverunt. ( 47 ) Cur igitur eos manu- 
re ifsit? metuebat scilicet ne indicarent : ne dolorem peri'en'e 
non pofsent: ne tormentis cpgerentur, occisum efse a servis 
Milords in Appia via P. Clodium confiteri. Quid opus est tor- 
tore? quid quseris? pccideritne? occidij:; jure, an injuria, nihil 
ad tortdrem ; facti enim irj equuleo quaestio est, juris, in judicio. 
XXII. Quod igitur in causa, qurerendum est ? id agamus hie : 
quod tormentis in venire vis, id fatemur. Manu vero cur mise- 
rit, si id potius quaerisy quam cur parum amplis effecerit pre- 
rniis ; nescis inimipi factum reprehendere ; dixit enim hie idem, 
( 48 ) qui omnia semper constanter et fortiter, M. Cato; dixitque 
in turbulenta concione, quge tamen ejus auctoritate placata 
est, non libertate solum,' sed etiam omnibus^ praemiis dig- 
nifsimos fuifse, qui domini caput defendifsent. Quod enim 
premium saf;is magnum est tarn benevolis, tarn bonis, tarn 
fidelibus servis, propter quos vivit? etsi id quidem non tanti 
est, quam quod propter eosdem non sanguine et vulneribus 



(47) Cur igitur eos manumisit.~y The ceremony of manumifsion was thus 
performed : The slave was brought before the pYsetor, by his master, who^ 
laying his hand upon his servant's head, said to the praetor, Hunt homineni 
liberum efse volo : and with that let him go out of his hand, which they 
termed e manu emitter? . Then the prqetor, laying a rod upon his head, 
called vinfofta, said, ' 

Pico earn liberum efse more Quiritum. 
Hence Persius, 

Vind,icta post quam meus a prcctore recefsi. 
After this, the Hctor, taking the rod' out of the praetor's hand, struck the 
servant several blows on the Lead, f ace > an< -J back; and nothing now re- 
mained but pilep donari, to receive a cap in token of liberty, and to have 
his name entered in the common roll of freemen, with "the reason of 
his obtaining that favour. 

(48) Qui omnia semper constanter et fortiter, M. Cato.'] The character 
here given by our orator, of this illustrious Roman, is not drawn beyond 
the life, but copied 'from, nature, and founded upon truth and justice. It 
will be extremely difficult, if not absolutely impofsible, to rind, in the 
Avhole annals of profane history, a character more eminently distinguished 
for stea'dinefs and consistency of conduct than that of Cato, who pafsed 
the whole of his life in the noblest occupation of which human nature is 
capable. All the parts of this great man's conduct, to use the words of 
the ingenious Mr. Melmoth, accord with each other, and are the regular 
result of one steady and invariable principle: 

Patrice — impendere vitam ; 

Nee sibi, sed toti genitum se credere viurido. 
This was the glorious object of his ambition, from his first appearance in. 
the world, to the last moment of his life; and he undauntedly pursued it 



cicero's orati<< 

im}, and what audacious attempts he wsucapab 
fore, as ho knew that a prijee was set upon his hi; , ;i n»l thi 
was in a manner devoted to destruction, lie m 
any danger without a guard. Add to this the eftcc! of a< 
the uncertain ifsue of ali combats, and the <■ imfton chance 
A\ar, which often turns against the victor, even when n 
plunder and triumph over the vanquished. Add th fi.J- 

nefs of a gluttonous, drunken, stupid leader, who, when he had 
surrounded his adversary, never thought of bis attend.: 
were behind ; from whom, fired with rage, and despairing 
their master's life, he suffered the punishment which th 
faithful slaves inflicted in revenge for their master's death. \\ h\ 
then did he give them their freedom f lie was afraid, I silppi 
lest they should betray him, lest they should not he able to en- 
dure pain, lest the torture should oblige them to confefs that 
P. Clodius was killed by Mile's servants on the,Appian way. lint 
what occasion for torture? what was you to extort? h' Uiodius 
was killed? he was : but whether lawfully or unlawfully, can 
never be determined by torture. When tin; question relates to 
the matter of fact, we may have recourse to the executioner ; 
but when to a point of equity, the judge must decide. 

Sect. XXII. Let us then here examine into what is to be the 
subject of inquiry in the present case ; for as to Avhat you 
would extort by torture, we confefs it all. But if you ask why 
he gave them their freedom s rather than why he bestowed so 
small a reward upon them, it shows that you do not even know 
how to find fault with this action of your adversary. For 
M- Cato, who sits on this bench, and who always speaks with 
the utmost resolution and steadinefs, said, and said it in a 
tumultuous afscmblv, which however was nuelled by his au- 
thority, that those who had defended their master's life, wqll 
deserved not only their liberty, but the highest rewards. Foi 
what reward can be great enough for such affectionate, such 
worthy and faithful servants, to whom their master is indebted 
for his life? and, which is yet a higher obligation, to whom 
he owes it, that his mo 5 t inveterate enemy has not feasted 

through all the various insults and opposition that Caesar, Crafsus, lad 
Pompey, could contrive to traverse and perplex his way. It has been ofltn 
said, indeed, that lie did not discover great abilities in the mineral tenourof 
his public conduct ; that he did not make suilicicnt allowances for th. 
temper of the Romans, among whom luxury had long prevailed, and i 
ruption was openly practised ; that he was incapable of ernployh 
seeming compliances that arc reconcileablc to tin' greatest steadinefs; and 
that he"treated a crazy constitution unskilfully. How much truth there is 
in all this, we shall not take upon us to deiei mini ■: thus much, li 
is unquestionable, that ii" his head was not one of the best, bis h 
tainly was; that he pofsefsed the patriot virtues in then 
fection: and that, as Lord Bolingbrokejusl!) 
(ie prolonged the life oj liberty. 



476 M. T. CXCER0NIS ORATIONES. 

suis crudelifsimi inimici mentem oculosque satiavit ; qups nisi 
lnanumisifset, tormentis etiam dedendi tuifsent, conservator's 
domini, ul tores sceleris, defensores necis. Hie vero nihil habet 
in his malis, quod minus moleste ferat, quam, etiam si quid ipsi 
accidat, else tamen illis meritum premium/ persdlutum. Sed 
nuiestiones urgent Milonem, ( 49 ) qtige sunt habitae nunc in atrio 
Libcrtatis ; quibusnam de servis ? rogas?' de P. Clodii ; quis 
eos postulavit? Appius? quis produxit ? Appius; unde ? ab 
Appio. Dii boni ! quid potest agi severius ? de servis nulla 
quaestio est in dominum, nisi de irjcestu, lit fui't in Clodium ; 
proxime deus accefsit Clodius, ( 5 °) propius quam turn, ciim ad 
ipsos penetrarat : cujus de morte, tanquam de cipremoniis vio- 
latis quaeiritur. Sed tamen majores nqstri in dominum de serve* 
qureri noluerunt, nori quia non pofset verum inveniri, sed quia" 
yidebatur indignium efse, et dominis "morte ipsa, tristius; in reuni 
de servis accusatoris cum quaeritur, verum inveniri potest ? Age 
vero, quae erat, aut qualis quaestio ? heus ubi Ruscio, ubi Casca? 
Clodius insidias fecit Miloni ? fecit ; certa crux : riuUas fecit ; 
sperata libertas. Quid hac quaistione certius? subito arrepti in 
quaestionem, tamen separantur a caeteris, et in areas con jiciun- 
tur ; ne quis cum iis colloqui pofsit ; hi centum dies penes accu- 
satorem cum fuifsent, ab eo ipso acCusatore producti sunt : quid 
hac quaestione dici potest integrius ? quid incorruptius ? 

XXJII. Quod si npndum satis cernitis, cum res ipsa tot tarn claris 
argumentis signisque luceat, pura mente atque integra Milonem, 

(49) Quce sunt habitce nunc in Atrio libertatis.'] Cicero, in his second book, 
De natura Deorum, informs us, that the ancient Romans worshipped Li* 
berty as a goddefs. Sempronius Gracchus caused a temple to be erected to 
her on the Aventine hill, out of the money raised by fines, as we are told 
by Livy, 7. 24. 

(50) Propius quam turn, cum ad : ipsos penetrarat.'] The orator refers here 
to what he mentions in a variety of places, viz. Cioclius's polluting the my- 
steries of the Bona D'ea. Of this goddefs, and the sacrifices offered to her, 
Cicero speaks' thus iri his, oration concerning the answers of the' Aruspices i 
' What sacrifice is there so ancient asHhat which has been handed down to 
' us from our first kings, and Is coeval with Jtome herself \ what sacrifice 
4 is there so private and secret as that which is concealed, not'only from 
4 the eyes of the curious and inquisitive, but from the sight of all men, and 
1 whither neither the most profligate wickednefs'nor impudence ever yet 
' presumed to enter? This sacrifice no man, except Clodius, was ever so 

* impious as to violate, no man but Clodius ever thought, without the ut- 
4 most horror, of assisting at' it. This sacrifice, 'which is' performed by the 

* vestal virgins, which is performed for the prosperity of the Roman people, 
' which is performed in the house of the chief magistrate, celebrated with 
' unknown Ceremonies, arid in honour of a goddefs, whose very name to 
' know is sacrilege; 'this sacrifice Clodius profaned,' &c. Plutarch takes 
the good goddefs to be the fame with the Gyneccea of the Greeks, that is, 
with the goddefs of the women ; and adds, that the Phrygians, who claimed 
a particular title to her, said she was mother to Midas ; that the Ro- 
mans pretended she was one of the Dryads and married to Faunus ; and 
that the Greeks affirmed she was mother to Bacchus. It is said that 
Caesar's wife, Pompeia, entertained a strong inclination for Clodius ; add 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 477 

his eyes, and satiated his wishet, with the light oi 
bloody corse; who, if they liad not been made fre 
fiverers of their master, these ayengprs of guilt, th< 
of innocent blood, must have been put to the torture. I 

matter, however, of no small satis&ction to him under hi-, j 
sent misfortunes, to reflect, ih.it whatever becomes of bum 
he has had it in his power to reward them as the 
But the torture that is now inflicting in the porch oi 
of Liberty, bears hard upon Milo. Upon whose si; 
rlicted ? do you ask ? on those of P. C'lotlius. Who den.ai.de I 
them? Appius. Who produced them ? Appius. From when 
came they ? from Appius. Good go'ds ! can any thing I 
severe? Servants are never examined against their □ but 

in cases of incest, as in the; instance of CJodius, who now ap- 
proaches nearer the gods, than when he made his way into their 
very presence; for the same inquiry is made into his death, 
it their sacred mysteries had been violated. But our ancestors 
would not allow a slave to be put to the torture for what a 
his master, not because the truth could not thus be discover 
but because their masters thought it dishonourable and woi 
than death itself. Can the truth be discovered when the slai 
of the prosecutor are brought as witnesses against the person 
accused? Let Us hear now what kind of an examination this 
was. Call in liuscio, call in Casca. Did Clodius way-lay MiJo ? 
He did i: drag them instantly to execution, lie did not: let 
them Have their liberty. What can be more satisfactory than 
this method of examination? They are hurried away on a sud- 
den to the rack; but are confined separately, and thrown into 
dungeons, that no person may have an opportunity of sneaking 
to them: at last, after having been, for a hundred days, in the 
hands of the prosecutor, he himself produces them. What can 
be more fair and impartial than such an examination ? 

Sect. XXIII. But if, my lords, you are not yet convinced, 
though the things shines out with such strong and full evidence, 
that Milo returned to Rome with an innocent mind, unstained 



that, being narrowly /watched at home by the virtuous Aurelia, C 
mother, and by his sister Julia, who entertained some suspicions of 
her, she could rind no other opportunity of meeting him, but at a solemn 
|feast, which was to be celebrated in her" husband's house, in honour of the 
Bona Dea. In order to gain accefs to his mistrefs, Clodius drefsed himself 
in a woman's habit, and, by the benefit of his smooth lace, ai. 
duction of one of the maids, who was in the secret, hoped to pal 
discovery; but by some mistake between him and his guide, he J 
way when he came within the house, and fell in unluckily among lh< 
female servants; who detecting him by his voice, alarmed the who. 
pany by their shrieks, to the great amazement of ihe matrons ; who pre- 
sently threw a veil over the sacred mysteries, while Clodius found means 
to escape In the favour of some of the damsels. 

1 ' II h 3 



475 M. T: CICERONIS ORATlONlX 

nullo scetere inbutuni, nullo metu perterritum, nulla, conscien-* 
tia exanimatum' Roman revcrtifse; recordamiui per deos im- 
mortales, quae fiierit celeritas reditus ejus : qui ingrefsus in 
forum, ardente curia: qua) magnitudo animi : qui vultus : qua? 
cratio. Neque vero se populo solum, sed etiam senatui com- 
misit: neque senatui modo, sed etiam publicis prsesidiis et ar- 
mis: neque his tantumj ( 5I ) verum etiam ejus potestati, eui se- 
natus totam rempublicam, omnem Italics pubem, cuncta populi 
Rom. arma commiserat; cui se nun'quam hie profeeto tradidifset, 
nisi causae suae eonfideret; praesertim omnia audienti, magna 
metuenti, muAta suspicanti, nonnulla credenti. Magna vis est 
conscientise, judices, et magna in utramque partem ? ut neque 
timeant, qui nihil commiserint, et poenam semper ante oculos 
versari petent, qui peecarint. Neque vero sine ratione certa 
causa Milonis semper a. senatu probata est ; videbant enim sa- 
pientifsimi homines faeti rationem,* praesentiam animi, defensio 
nis constantiam. An veto obliti estis, judices, recenti illo nun- 
cio neeisCIodiauae, non modo knmieorum Milonis sermOnes et 
opiniones, sed nonnullorum etiam imperitorum, qui negabant 
eum Romam efse rediturum ? Sive enim illud animo irato ac 
percito fecifset, ut incensus odio trucidaret inimieum, arbitra- 
bantur eum tanti mortem P. Clodir putafse, ut aequo animo pa- 
triot careret, cum suo perinimici explefset odium suum: sive 
etiam illius morte patriam liberare voluifset, non dubitaturum 
fbrtem viruin, quin, cum sanguine eulo salutem reipublicse attu- 
lifset, eederet aequo animo legibus, secum auferret gloriam sem- 
piternam, nobis haec fruenda rehnqueret, quae ipse «ervafset. 
Multi etiam Catilinam, atqueilla portenta loquebantur : ERUM- 
PET, occupabit aliqueui locum, bellum patriae faciet ; miseros 
interdum cives optiiu'e de republica meritos, in quibus homines 
non modo res praeclarifsimas obliviscuntur, sed etiam nefarias 
suspicantur L Ergo ilia falsa fuerunt: quae certe vera exstitifsent y 
si IVlilo admifsifset aliquid, quod lion pofset honeste vereque de- 
f'endere. 

XXIV. Quid, quae postea sunt in eum congesta? quae quern- 
vis etiam mediocrium delictorum conscientia perculifsent, ut sus-' 



(51) Verum etiam ejus potestati.'] Pompey is here meant, to whom the 
senate gave an. unlimited commission to see-that the republic should re- 
ceived no detriment, either from Mi!o r or the Clodian fa<: 



CICF.fco's ORATIONS. 479 

With guilt, undisturbed by fear, and free from the ae< i 
of conscience; call to mind, I beseech vou by the immorl 
the expedition with which he came back, las entrai 
the forum while the senate-house was in flames, the 
soul he discovered, the look he afsumed, the spree!) 
the occasion. He delivered himself up, not only to the people, 
but even to the senate; nor to the senate alone, but ev, 
guards appointed for the public security; nor merely to them, 
but even to the authority of him whom the senate had ii 
with the cai e of the whole republic, the youth of Italy, and all the 
military force of Koine : to whom he would never have deli- 
vered himself, if he had not been confident of the goe 
his cause ; especially as that person heard every report, \ 
apprehensive of very great danger, had many And 

gave credit to some, stones Great, my lords, i> t 
conscience; great both in the innocent and the guilty: the ! 
have no fears, while the other imagine their punishment is eon- 
tinually before their eyes. Nor indeed is it without good I 
son that Milo's cause has ever been approved tte; 

for those wise men perceived t lie justice of his 
sence of mind, and the resolution with which he m.uie his &v 
fence. Have you forgot, my lords, when the news ofClodi i 
death had reached us$ what were the reports and opinions that 
prevailed, not only amongst the enemies of Milo, hut e- 
amongst some other weak persons, who affirmed that Milo would 
not return to Rome? For if he committed the fact in the ! 
of pafsion, from a principle of resentment, they imagined lie 
■would look upon the death of P. Clodius as of sueh consequence, 
that he could be content to go into banishment, after having 
satiated his reVenge with the blood of his enemy ; or if lie put 
him to death with a view to the safety of his country, they -.\ 
of opinion that the same brave man, after he had saved the 
state, by exposing his own life to danger, would cheerfully sub- 
mit to the laws, and, leaving us to enjoy the blefsings lie 1 
preserved, be satisfied himself with immortal glory. Others 
talked in a more frightful manner, and called ham a Caul:; 
he will break out, said they; he will seize sonic strong plai 
he will make war upon his country. How wretched is often 
the fate of those citizens who have done the most important 
services to their country! their noblest action- arc not only for- 
got, but they are even suspected of the most impious. Tin 
suggestions therefore were groundlefs : yet they must have 
proved too well founded, had Milo done any thing that could 
not be defended with truth and justice. 






Sect. XXIV. Why should I mention the calum 
were afterwards heaped upon him? And though th( 

lik 4 



4*0 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIGNES. 

timiit? dii immortales! sustinuit? immo verp ut contempsit, aC 
pro nilulo putavit? quqs neque maximo ammo nocens, neque 
inriocens, nisi ibrtifsimus vir, negligere potuifset; scutorum, 
gladioriim, frcnorum, sparorum, pilorumque etiam multitudo 
depiebeiKli pofse judicabatur : nullum in urbe victim, nullum 
angiportum else dicebant, in quo Miloni non efsct conducta do- 
mus i anna in villain Ocriculanam devecta Tiberi : domus in 
clivo capitolino sciitis referta ; ( Si ) plena omnia malieolorum ad 
urbis incendia comparator um. Hibc non delata solum, sed pene 
eredita: nee ante re'pudiata sunt, quaih quaesita.' ( 55 ) Laudabam 
equidem incredibilem diligentiam Cn. Pompeii: sed dicam, ut 
sentio^ judices; nimis multa audire coguntur, neque aliter fa- 
cere pofsunt ii, quibus tota Commiisa est respublica; quin etiarn 
audiendus sit ( H ) popa Licinius nc'scio quis de eirco maximo, 
servos Miloriis apud se ebrio's factos, sibi confelsos efse, de inter- 
iiciendo Cn. Pompeio eonjurafse: deinde postea se gladio per- 
cui'sum efse ab una de illis, ne indicaret. Pompeio in hortos 
nuntiavit; arcefsor in primis ; de amicorum sententia rem de- 
iert ad senatum j non poteram in ilhus mei patriseque custodis 
f auta suspicions litfti metu' exanimari ; sed mirabar tamen credi 
popa?; [ebriosorum] co'nfefsionem servorum audiri ; vulnus in 
latere, quod acu punetum videretur, pro ictu gladiatoris probari. 
Yerum tamen, ut inteliigOj cavebat vnagis Pompeius, quam 
timebat, non ea solum qua3 timenda erant, sed omnino omnia, 
ne aliquid vos timeretis.- Oppugnata domus C. Caesaris, clarif- 
simi et fortifsimi viri, per multas noctis boras nuntiabatur; ( 5v ) 
nemo atidierat tam celebri loco, nemo senserat : tamen audie- 
batur; non poteram Cn. Pompeium, pra3stantifsima virtute ci- 
vem^ timidum suspicari: diligentiam, tota republiea suscepta, 
mmiam riullam putabam. Frequentifsimo senatu iraper in ca- 
pitolio senator inventus est, qui Milonem cum telo efse diceret ; 
nudavit se in sanetifsimo templo, quoniam vita talis et civis et 
viri fidem non faciebat, ut, eo tacente, res ipsa loqueretur. 



(52) Plena omnia malleolar ■urn'} Malleoli, according to Nonius were 
small bundles of broom, covered over with pitch; which being kindled, 
were thrown On walls, or the roofs of houses. The word is sometimes used 
in a general sense, to signify any thing combustible. 

(53) Laudabam equidem incredibilem diligentiam Cn. Pompeii.'] The beau- 
tiful manner in which our orator here speaks of the conduct and pretended' 
fears oi Pompey, is a clear proof of his talent for fine and masterly raillery, 

(54) Popa Licinius nescio quis de circa maxima.'] De circb maximo, id est, 
de plebe sacriJicoru?h : sic enim solebant de lilioribus hominibus loqui ; savs 
the Dauphin annotator. And indeed Suetonius informs us, that there was 
a set of abandoned wretches who lived near the circus ?naximus, of whom 
probably this .Licinius was one., Popa was a priest, or butcher, who slew 
the sacrifices, and offered them up when slain. 

(55) Nemoaudierat tam celebri loco.] Caesar, from the time he was made 
foritifex ?naximus, lived in a large house in the via sacra, which was" no* 
far horn the for u in. 



Cicero's cratj" 

Hould have filled any breast with tenor that had th 

sciousriefs of euilfc, yet how he bore them! [mm 

bore them, did I say? nay, how he d 

nought! though a guilty persdn eVen 

nor an innocent person, unlets endued wit 

tude, could never have neglected thorn. It 

about, that a vast number of shields, swords, bridles, rfai 

javelins might he found; that there was no 

the city, where Milo had not hired a lie 

conveyed down the Tiber to his seal n Oct 

house on thi* capitoline bill was filled with sh 

every other place was full of hand-granades for firii 

These stories were not only reported, but almo 

-were they looked upon as groundlefs till alt 

made. 1 could not indeed but applaud the wonderful diligence 

of Pompey upon the occasion: but, to tell you freely, mi 

•what I think; those who are charged with the care oi the \\ I 

republic; are obliged to hear too many stories; nor indeed is 

it in their power to avoid it. He could rtoi an audiei 

to a paltry fellow of a priest, LiciniusI think he is called, who 

gave information that Milo's slaves, having got d 

house, confefsed to him a plot they had Formed to mun 

Pompey ; arid that afterwards one of them stabbed him, to 

prevent his discovering it. Pompey received this inielligen 

at his gardens. I was sent for immediately, and by the ad\ 

of his friends the affair was laid before the senate. I could not 

help being in the greatest consternation, to see the guardian 

both of me and my country under so great an apprehension ; 

yet I could not help wondering that such credit was given i<> a 

butcher, that the confefsionsofa parcel-of drunken slaves should 

be read ; and that a wound in the side, which seemed t>> 

prick only of a needle, should be taken for the thrust o 

diator. But, as I understand, Pompey was showing his caution, 

rather than his fear ; and was disposed to be suspic 

every thing, that you might have reason to fear nothing. Th< 

was a rumour also, that the house of C. Cesar, so emuienl 

his rank and courage, was attacked for several hours in 

night. Nobody heard, nobody perceived any thin 

though the place was so public; yet the allair jras 

to be inquired into. I could never suspect a man of Pomp 

distinguished valour, of being timorous; nor yet think 

caution too great in one who has taken uponhims< 11 

of the whole republic. A senator too, in a full house, affirmed 

lately in the Capitol, that Milo had a dagger under his g 

that very time: upon which he himself in that 

sacred temple, that, since his hie and manners C< 

him credit, the thing itself might speak for him. 



482 M. T. crcEHONrs or/iTiomes. 

XXV. Omnia falsa atque insidiosc ficta comperta sunt. Quod 
si tamen metuitur etiam. nunc Mile-, nou hoc jam Clodianum 
crimen timemus, sed tuas, Cn. Pompei, (te enim jam appello 
ea voce, ut .me audire potsis), ( 5> ) tuas, tuas, inquam, suspi- 
clones perhorre'scimus. Si Milofrem times, si lmnc de tua, vita 
nefarie aut nunc cogitare, aut molittim aliquando aiiquid putas ; 
si Italiae delectus, ut nonnul'li conquisitores tui dictitant, si haec 
anna, si Capitolina; cohortes, si cxcubia 1 , si vigilia?, si delccta 
juvcntus, qua) tuum corpus domumque custodit, contra Milonis 
impetum armata est, atque ilia omnia in hunc unum ihstituta,- 
parata, intenta sunt: magna ifi hoe certe vis, c't incredibilis 
animus, et non unius viri vires atque opes indicantur, siquidem 
in hunc unum et prycstantilsimus dux elcctus, et tota respublica 
armata est. Sed quis non intelligit, onrnes tibi reipublicae partes,- 
segras et labantes, ut eas his armis sanares et confirmares, else 
eotnmiisas ? Quod siMiloni Jocus datus efset, probafset profecto' 
tibi ipsi, neminem unquam hominem homini cariorem fuiise, 
quam te sibi: nullum se unquam perieuiunij pro tua dignitate,- 
tugifse: cum ilia, ipsa teterrima peste sa^pifsime pro tua gloria 
contendifse: tribunatum suum ad salutenr meam, qua? tibicaris- 
sima fuifset, consiliis tuis gubernatum : se a te' posteadeiensum 
in periculo capitis, adjutum in petition® praetura? : duos se ha- 
bere semper amicifsimos sperafse, te tuo benefieio, me suo y 
qua? si non probaret ; si tibi ita pe'nitus msedifset ista suspicion 
nullo ut evelli modo pofset ; si denique Italia a delectu, urbs ab 
armis, sine Milonis clade, nunquam efset conquietura ; nae iste 
haud dubitans cefsifset patria, is, qui ita natus est, et ita con- 
suevit ; te, Hague, tamen antestaretur : quod nunc etiam tacit*. 

(56) Tuas, tuas, inquam, suspiciones perhorrescimm.~] For the illustration 
of this pafsage we shall transcribe the note of Asconius, which is as follows ? 

* Diximus in argumento orationis hujns, Cn. Pompeium simulafse se ti- 
' mere, seu plane timuifse Milonem, et ideo ne domi quidem sux, sed in 
' hortis superioribus ante judicium mansifse, ita ut villam quoque prassidip 

* militum circumdaret. Q. Pompeius tribunus pleb. qui fuerat familiarrs- 

* simus omnium P. Ciodio, et sectam suam sequi se palam prontebatur, 
' dixerat in condone paucis post diebus, quam Clodius erat occisus : 

* Mile dedit, qutm in curia cremaretis : dabo, quern in capitolio sepeliatis. 
' In eadem concioneidem dixerat (habuit enim earn a. d. $. kal. Febr. cum 
' Miio pridie, id est, 7. kal. Febr. venire ad Pompeium in hortos ejus vo- 
' luifset) Pompeium ei per hominem propinquum misifse, ne ad se veniret. 

* Prius etiam quam Pompeius tertium consul crearetur tres tribuni, Q. Pom- 
' peius Rufus, C. Salustius Crispus, T. Munacius Plancus, cum quotidianis- 
' concionibus suis magnam mvidiam Miloni propter Clodium excitarent, 
' produxerant ad populism Cn. Pompeium, et ab eo qua?sierant, num- ad 
' eum delatum efset, illud quoque indicium, suae vitsc insidiari Milonem. 

* Kesponderat Pompeius, Licinium quendam de plebe, sacrificulum, qui 

* solitus efset familias purgare, ad se detulffse, servos quosdam Milonis, 

* itemque libertos comparatos else ad credem suam: nomina quoque ser- 

* vorum edklifee.: ad Milonem misifse, ut eos in potestate sua haberet • a 

* Mllone responsum efse, ex iis servis, quos nominafset, partim neminem 
' se unquam habuifse, partim manumisifee. Dein, cum Licinium apud se 
' haberet, Lucitim quendam de plcbe ad corrumpendum judicem venil'se : 



Cicero's or a 

Sect. XXV. These stories were 
malicious forgeries: but if, after all, Milo must 
it is no longer the aifair of Ciodius, hut \«mu wispicti 
pey, whieli we dread : your, pour suspicion 
it so that you may bear me. h you are afraid of Milo, il 
imagine that he is either now forming, or li. 
trived any wicked design against your life , n 
Italy, as some of your agents allege, if this 
Capitoline troops, if these Gentries and guards, 
band of young men that guard your person and your 
armed against the afsaults of Milo; if all these precauttoi 
taken and pointed against him, great undoubted h m 
strength, and incredible his valour, far surpalking the I 
and power of a single man, since the most eminenl 
generals is fixed upon, and the whole repuhlie armed to 
him. But who dotes not know that ail the intirm and ; 
parts of the state are committed to your care, I 
and strengthened by this armed force? Could Milo Imve found 
an opportunity, he would immediately convinced \ <m that no 
man ever had a stronger affection for another than lie h. : 
you; that he never declined any danger, where your dignitv 
was concerned; that, to raise your glory, he often encouni 
that monster Clodius; that his tribunate was employed, nodes 
your direction', in securing my safety, which you bad then no 
much at heart; that you afterwards protected him when his id«- 
was in danger, and used your interest for him when lie 
for the prrctorship; that there were two persons whose warmest 
friendship he hoped he might always depend upon, your* 
account of the obligations you laid him under, and me i 
count of the favours I received from him. If he had f.r, 
the proof of all this; if your suspicions had been so . 
rooted as not to be removed ; if Italy, in a word, must 
have been free from new levies, nor the city from arms, 
out IVIilo's destruction, he would not have scrupled, . t 

his nature and his principles, to bid adieu to his count r\ 
first he would have called upon thee, O thou gr 
how does. 



* qua re cognita, in vincula eum publics a so conjectum. Decree 
' sonatus, ut cum interrege et tr. plebis Ponipeiua daret operao 

' rcspublica detriment! caperat. Ob lias suspicions Pompeiu 

' oribus hortis se continuerat, deinde ex S. C. delect u per .Italian) habko 
' cum rediftet, venientem ad se Milorrem iinum omnium non adn 

* Item, cum senatus in portion Porapeii haltereiur, ut Poi 

' terefse, unum turn excuti prius, quam in scnatum intra: 

* Ilae sunt suspiciones, quas die* so Cicero per 1 . 



431 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XXVL Vide quam sit varia vita*, commutabilisqud ratio,," 
quam vaga volubilisque ibrtuna, quantae inhdehtates in amicis, 
quam ad tempus aptafe simulation's, quanta) in periculis fugaj 
proximorum, qu&ntce 'timiditat.es ! erit, erit illud profecto tem- 
pns, et illucescet aliquando die dies, cum hi salutaribus, ut spero,' 
rebus tuts, sed fortafse m'otu aliquo eommunium temporum im- 
rnutatis (qui quam crebro accidat, experti -debemus scire) et 
amicifsimi bcnevolentiam, et gravifsimi homines fidem,- et unius 
post homines ftatos fortifsimi viri niagmtudinem animi desi- 
deres. Quanquam quis hoe eredat, Cn. Pompeium, juris pub- 
lic^ moris ma jorum, rci denique publican peritifsimum, cum se- 
natiis ei com'miserit, Hi videret; ME QUID RESPUBLICA 
DETRIMENTI CAPERET (quo uno versieulo satis armati 
semper consules fuerunt, etiam nullis arnris datis) hunc exercitu, 
hunc delectu dato^ judicium exspectaturnm fmfse in, ejus con- 
siliis vindicandis, qui vet judicia ipsa tolleret ? Satis judicatuirf 
est a. Pompeio, falsa ista c'orrferfi in Milonem, qui legem tulit, 
qua, ut ego sentio, Milonem absolvi a vobis oporteret ; ut omnes 
conntentur, liceret. Quod ve'ro in' ilia loco, atque illis publico- 
rum pricsidiorum eopiis cireumfusus sedet; satis de'clarat, se 
non terrorem inlerre vobis (quid enim illominus dignuni 
quam cogef'e ut vos eiim condemnetis, in quem animadvertere 
ipse, et more majorum, et suo jure pofset?) sed praesidio efse: 
ut intelligatis, contra hesternam coneionem illam licere vobis, 
quod sentiatis, libere judieare. 

XXVIL Nee vero me, judices, Clodianum crimen mover: 
nee tarn sum demens^ tamque vestri sensus ignarus atque ex- 
pers, ut neseiam quid de morte Clodii sentiatis; de qua 1 si jam 
nollem ita diluere crimen, ut diiui, tamen impune Miloni palam 
clamare, atque mentiri gloriose liceret : OccTdi, occidi non 
Sp. Mselium qui annona levanda, jaeturisque rei familiaris, quia 
nimis amplecti plebem putabatur, in suspicionem incidet regni 
appetendi ; non Tiberium Gracchum, qui collegae magis- 
tratum per seditionem abrogavit ; quorum interfeetores irnple- 
runt orbem terrarum nominis sui gloria : sed cum (auderet 
enim dicere, cum patriam periculo suo liberafset) cujus ne- 
landum adulterium iu pulvinaribus sanctifsimis nobilifsini^ 



ciceroVop 

Skct. XXVI. Consider bow uncertain and i 
condition of life is, how unsettled and inconstant 
tunc ; what unfaithfuluefs is to be found am 
disguises suited to tunes and circum 
what cowardice in our dangers, even, i 

ro us. There will, there will, I say, be a tune, r ill 

certainly come, when you with safety still, 1 b< 
tunes, though changed perhaps I turn cif I 

times, which," as experience snows, will oft ill, 

may want the affection of the friendliest, the I'ui 
thicst, and the courage of the bravest man living. Though w 
can believe that Pompey, so well skilled in the i 
ancient usages, and the constitution of his country, v> 
senate had given it him in charge to see that the republic j 
no detriment ; a sentence always sufficient for arm 
suls without afsigrting them an armed force; dial 
when an army and a chosen hand of soldiers were al liin. 

should wait the event of this trial, and defend tin 
the man who wanted to abolish trials? It was sullicii 
Pompey cleared Milo from those charge* that, were advam 
against him, by enacting a law, according to which, in my i 
mon, Milo ought, and, by the confusion of all, might lawfully 
be acquitted. But by sitting in that place, attended by a nun 
ous guard afsigned him by public authority, he* sufficiently i 
clares his intention is not to overawe (for what can I 
unworthy a man of his character, than to oblige you to < 
demn a person, whom from numerous precedents, and by \ir- 
tue of his own authority, he might have punished himself f)* but 
to protect you: he means only to convince you, that, n 
standing yesterday's riotous afse'mbly, you are at full bl 
pais sentence according to your own judgments. 

Sect. XXVII. But, my lords, the Oodian 

me no concern; for I am not so stupid, so void pe- 

rience, or' so ignorant of your sentiments, 

opinion in relation to the death of Clodius, Audi 

not refuted the charge, as I have done, vet Mild might, n::. 

have made the following glorious declarati 

false one: I have slain, I have slain, not a i 

suspected of aiming at the re< 

favour of the people by lowering t l e j 

stowing extravagant presents to the ruii 

not a Tiberius Gracchus, who seditiously de[>0 

from his magistracy ; though even their i 

the world with the glory of their exploits: Bui 

piah (for he had a right to use this Ian . 

Jais country at the hazard of his own hi 



4$6 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

fanninac comprehenderunt : eum, cujiis supplicio senatus so- 
1 emnes reiigiopee expiandas siepe censuit : eum quern cum so- 
lore germana ner'arium stupium fecifse L. Lucullus juratus se, 
<jtia\stionibus habitis, dixit comperiise : eum, qui civem, quern 
senatus j qucm populus, quern onines gentes, urbis ac vita: ci- 
vium couservatorem judicabant, servorum armis exterminavit : 
P 7 } cum, qui regna dedit, ademit, orbem terrarum, quibuscum 
voluit, partitus est : eum, qui plurimis caedibus in foro factis, 
singuiai virtute et gloria civem do mum vi et armis compulit; 
eum, cni nihil unquam nefas fuit nee in facinore, nee in libidine : 
enm, ( sS ) qui sedem nympharum ineendit, ut memoriam publi- 
cam ' recensionis tabulis publicis imprefsam extingueret : eum 
denique, cui jam nulla lex erat, nullum civile jus, nulli pofsefsio- 
liiim termini ; qui non caluninia litium, non injustis vindictis ac 
sacramentis alienos fundos, sed castris, exercitu, signis inferen- 
dis petebat ; qui non solum Etruscos (eos enim penitus coii- 
tempserat), seel hunc Q,. Varium, virum fortifsimum, atque op- 
timum civcin 9 judicem nostrum pellere polsefsionibus, armis cas« 
trisque conatus est ; qui cum architects et cjecempedis villas 
multorum hortosque peregrabat ; qui Janiculo, et Alpibus spem 
poisefsionum terminabat suarum; qui, cum ab equite Romano, 
splendido et furti viro, T. Pacavio, non impetrafset, ut insu- 
Jam in lacu pretio venderet, repente lintribus in earn insulam 
inateriam, ealeem, caementa atque arma convexit ; dominoque 
trans ripaui inspectante, non dubitavit aedificium exstruere in 
alieno : qui huic T. Furfanio, cui viro, dii immortales ! (quid 
enim ego de muliercula Scantia r quid de adolescente. Apronio 
<licam ? quorum utrique mortem est minitatus, nisi sibi horto- 
rum pofsefsione eefsifset), sed ausus est Furfanio dicere, si sibi 
pecuniam, quantam poposcerat, non dedifset, (59) mortuum se 
in clomum ejus illaturum; qua invidia huic efset tali viro con- 
flagrandum : qui Appium fratrem, hominem mini conjunctum 

(57) Eum, qui regna dedit, ademit.~] Clodius enacted a law against Pto- 
lemy, king of Cyprus, to deprive him of his kingdom, and reduce it to a 
Soman province, and confiscate his whole estate. This prince was bro- 
ther to the king of Egypt, and reigned by the same right of hereditary 
Miccefsion ; was in full peace and amity with Home; accused of no prac- 
tices, nor suspected of any designs against the republic. But Clodius had 
an bid grudge to him, for refusing to ransom him when he was taken by 
the pirates, and sending him only the contemptible sum of two taknts. 
r i o sanctify this iniquitous law, as it were, and give it the better face anr J 
colour of justice, Cato was charged with the execution of it ; which gave 
Clodius a double pleasure, by imposing such a task upon the gravest man 
in Rome, 

(53) Qui d'dem nympharum i?icendit.~] The nymphs presiding over foun- 
tains had a temple erected to them at llome, that they might prove propi- 
tious in preventing burnings : this temple Clodius set on fire. 

(5D) Mvrttntin se in domum ejus illat uru??i.~] Clodius threatened to con- 
vey a dead body into Furfanius's house, with a .view of bringing him under 
a suspicion of having committed the murder in his own house. Or pcr- 
barjs fhis design was, to make him thereby lose the right and property of 



eiC ERo's ORATIONS. 

adulteries our noblest matrons discovered even ip 
cred recefses of the immortal gods : the man, by who 
ment the senate frequently determined to atone for I 
jtioD of our religious rites: the man whose nicest with hi 
sister, Lucullus swore he hail discovered, by due 
the man who, by the violence ot* his slaves, expelled a p 
esteemed by the senate, the people, and all natn-i 
server of the city and the lives o( the citizens; the man 
gave and took away kingdoms, and parcelled oui irld t-. 

whom he pleased; the man who, alter having oom 
veral murders in the forum, by force of aims obi 
of illustrious virtue and character, to confine himself . 
walls of his own house: the man who thought no it. 
yillany or lust unlawful: the man who fired the toiupk « 
nymphs, in order to destroy the public register, which 
tained the censure of his crimes: in a word, the mat! 
verned himself by no law, disregarded all civil instiiu: 
observed no bounds in the division of property ; who ne\ i 
tempted to seize the estate of another by quirks of law, 
prned evidence, or false oaths, but employed the more effectual 
means of regular troops, encampments., and standards ; who, 
by his armed forces, endeavoured to drive from their poise.' 
not only the Tuscans (for them he utterly despised), but Q. Ya- 
rius, one of our judges, that brave man and worthv citi 
who, with his architect arid measures, traversed the estates and 
gardens of a great many citizens, and grasped in his own ima- 
gination all that lies between Janjeulum and the Alps, 
when he could not persuade Titus Paeavius, an iilusU'iou 
brave Roman knight, to sell an is|aud upon the Pretian lake, 
immediately conveyed timber, stone, mortar and sand into the 
island in boats, and made no scruple of building a 
another person's estate, everi while the proprietor was viewin; 
him from the opposite bank ; who had the impudence, immoi- 
tal Gods ! to declare to such a mail as Titus Furfauius 
shall omit the affair relating to the widow Scantia, and the young 
Apronius, both of whom he threatened with death, if tin 
not yield to him the pofsefsion pf their gardens), who had the 
impudence, I say, to declare to Titus Furvauius, that il he did 
not give him the sum of money lie demanded, he would convey 
a dead body into his house, in order to expose so emiu 
to the public odium; who dispoiseiscd his brother Appiusof hrs 
estate in his absence, a man united to me in the ( 
ship ; who attempted to run a wall through a court-yard be 



his house; because, by n dead body being brought into any house, it be- 
Mine sacred, and the proj>riet< 'o quit all iiia. talc to it. 



438 M. T. CiCERONIS ORATIONES. 

Iidiisimfi gratia, absentem de pofsefsione fundi dejecit : qui pa. 
rietem sic per vestibulum sororis instituit ducere, sic agere fun- 
damenta, ut sororem non mpdo vestibulo privaret, sed omni 
aditu 'et limine. 

XXVIII. Quanquam foafec quidemjam toleifabilia videbantur, 
etsi aquabiliter in remp. in privates, in loynginquos, in propin- 
quos, in alienos, in sues irruebat : sed nescio quomodp jam usu 
obduruerat, et percalluerat civitatis incredibilis patientia. Qua; 
verp adherant jam et impendebant, quonam niodo ea ant depel- 
lere potuifsqtis, aut ferre ? Irnperium si ille nactus efset, omitto 
socios, exteras nationes, reges, tetrarchas : vota enim feceratis, ut 
in eos se potius mitteret, quam in vestras pofsefsiones, vestra tecta, 
vestras pecunias : pecuniasdico ? a liberis, a liberis mediusfidius, 
et a conjngibus vestris nunquam ille eflranatas suas libidines cc~ 
hibuiiset: fingi bac putatis, qua) patent, quae nota sunt omni- 
bus, quae tpnentur ? servorum exercitus ilium in urbe conscrip- 
turum fuifse, per qups totam rempuh, resque privatas omnium 
pofsideret ? Quamobrem si cruentum gladium tenens clamaret 
T. Annius, ADESTE, quaeso r atque audite, cives: P. Clodiuirt 
interfeci : ejus furores, quos nullis jam legibus, nullis judiciis 
i'renare poteramus, hoe ierro et bac dextera a cervicibus vestris 
repuli; pee me, ut unum jus, aequitas. leges, libertas, pudor. 
pudicitia in civitate manerent : efset vero timendum, quonam 
modo id [factum] ferret civitas; nunc enim quis est, qui non 
prol>et ? qui non laudet r qui non unum post hominum memo-' 
riam T. Annium plurimum reipublicae pr of uifse, maxima, Jrctitia 
populum Romanum cunctam Italiam, nationes omnes atiecifse~ 
et dicat, et sentiat ? Nequeo Vetera ilia populi Roman} quanta 
fuerint guadia judicare ; multas tame n jam summorum impera- 
torum clarifsimas victorias aetas nostra vidit; quarum nulla ne- 
que tarn diuturnam attulit I&titiam, nee tantam. Mandate hoc 
memoriae, Judices ; spero multa vos liberosque vestros in re- 
publicfi bona efse visuros ; in his singulis ita semper existima- 
bitis, vivo P. Clodio, nihil horum vos visuros fuifse; in spem 
maxiinam, et, quemadmodum confido, verifsimam adducti su- 
mus, hunc ipsum annum, hoc ipso summo viro consule, com- 
prefsaiiomitium licentia, cupiditatibus fractis, legibus et judiciis 
constitutis, salutarem civitati fore. Num quis igitur est tarn 
demons, qui hoc, P. Clodio vivo, contingere potuifse arbifre- 
tur?<Quid? ea, quae tenetis, privata atque vestra, dominante 
homine furioso, quod jus perpetuae pofsefsiopis habere no- 
tuifsent ? 



CiCERb's ORATIONS. 

longing to his sister, and to build it in such B 

only to render the court-yard uselefs, but to deprive her of all 

entrance and accefs to her house. 

Sect. XXVIII. Yet all these violences were tolerate I, tli 
committed no lei's against tlve commonwealth than a 
vate personsj against the remotest as well as th< li- 

ters as well as relations; but the amazing natieni 
Mas become, I know not how, perfectly hardened and calloi 
Yet by what means could you have warded off tip 
that were more immediate and threatening-, or how could you 
have submitted to his government, if he had obtained it ; I 
pais by our allies, foreign nations, kings and prtn it 

■was your ardent prayer that he would turn himself loose upon 
those , rather than upon your estates, your houses and your 
money: your money did 1 say? by heavens, he had never re- 
strained his Unbridled lust from violating your wives and i hil- 
dren. Do you imagine that' these tilings are mere fictions? 
are they not evident ? not publicly known ? not remembered 
by all? Is it not notorious that he attempted to raise an army 
cf slaves, strong enough to make him master of the whole re- 
public, and of the property of every Roman ? Wherefore if 
Milo, holding the bloody dagger in his hand, had cried aloud, 
Citizens* I beseech } T ou, draw near and attend : I have killed 
Publius Clodius; with this tight hand, with this dagger, I have, 
saved your lives from that fury, which no laws, no government 
could restrain. To me alone it is owing, that justice, equity, 
laws, liberty, modesty, and decencv have yet a being in 
Home.' Could there be any room for Milo to fear how his coun- 
try would take it ? Who is there now that does not approve and 
applaud it ? where is the man that does not think and declare 
it as his opinion, that Milo has done the greatest pofsible 
vice to his country, that he has spread joy amongst the inhabi- 
tants of Rome, of all Italy, and the whole world? I cannot in- 
deed determine how high the transports of the Roman people 
may hare risen in former time:;, tins present age, however, has 
been witnefs to many signal victories of the bravest generals; 
but none of thern ever occasioned such real an J lasting joy,. 
Commit this, my lords, to your memories ; I hope that you and 
your children vaU'enjoy many blelsings in the republic, and 
that each of them will be attended with this reflection, that if 
P. Clodius had lived, you would have enjoyed none of th 
We now entertain the highest, and, I trust, the best grounded 
hopes, that so excellent a person being consul, the licentiou 
of men being curbed, their schemes broke, law and justice 
biished, the present will be a most fortunate year to Ri 
But who is so stupid as to imagine this would have * 
case had Clodius lived ? How could you pofs.blv have 
cure in the pofsefsion of what belongs to you, of your owr\ pri- 
vate property, under the tyranny of such a fury ? 

I x 



490 M. T. CICERONIS O'RATIONES,, 

XXIX. Non timeo, judices, ne odio inimicitiarum meariimf 
inikimmatus, libentins haie in ilium cvomere videar, quam ve- 
rms; ctemm etsl pnecipu-um efse debebat, tamen ita communis 
erat onmium iJle 'hostis, ut in commtir/i odio pehe aequaliter ver- 
,-aretur odium meuni. ( 6o ) Non potest dici satis, nee cogitari qui- 
dcin, quantum in illo sceleris,- quantum exitii fuerit. Quin bit 
attendite, judiees ; uempe liice est quiestio de ioteritu P. Ciodii ; 
6ngit£ a.i Minis (libera: enim sunt cogitationes nostras/ et, qua) vo- 
lant, sic mtuentur, ut ea cernimus, quse videmus) fingite igitur 
eogitatkmc imaginem hujus conditioned meas : si pofsum efficere, 
ut Milonem absolvatis, sed ita, si P. Clodius revixerit. Quid 
vultu extimuistis? quonam modo ille vos vivus afficeret, qui 
xnortuus inani eogitatione perenfsit ? Quid? si ipse Cm Pom- 
peiu-s, qui ea virtufe/ac fortuna est, ut ea potuerit semper, qua; 
r/emo putter ilium : si is, inquairi^ potuifset, atft qugestionenrde 
rnorte P. Clotlii ferre,- aut ipstitn alyinferis excitare, utrum pu- 
fatis facturum £uifse ? etiam si propter amicitiam vellet ilium ab 
inferis revocare, propter rempub. mm feciiset. Ejus igitur moi*- 
tis sedetis ultores, cujas vitam si putetis per vos restitui poise/ 
nolitis : et de ejus nece lata quaestio est, qui si eadem lege revi- 
viseere pofset, lata lex nunquam efset Hujus ergo interfectof 
qui efset, in coniitehdo ab hisne posnam timeret, quos libera- 
vifset? Grceci homines debrun* honores tribuimt iis viris, qui 
tyrannos necavenmt. Qua; ego vidi Athenis ? quae aliis iii'ur-' 
bibus GraicisfJ ? quas res divinas talibas institutas viris ? quos 
cantus ? quse carmina ? prope ad immortalitatis et religionem 
et memOnam consecrantinv Vos tanti conservatorem populi, 
tanti sceleris ultorem non modo honoribus nullis afficietis, sed 
ad supplicium rapi etiam patiemini ? Connteretur, inquam si 

(GO) Non potest dici satis, nee eogitari quidem, quantum in illo sceleris/ 
quantum exitii fuerit:\ It may jjtt'stly seem strange, that so abandoned a' 
wretch, and so' pestilent a> citizen, should have been suffered in Koine f 
and it would b^ natural to suspect, that we had been deceived in our ac- 
counts of him, by taking them from his enemies, did we not find them too 
firmly supported 1 by facts to be called in question. A little attention, how- 
ever, to the particular charaef erof Clodius, as "well as of the times in which 
he lived, will enable us. to solve the difficulty. First, the splendour of his' 
family, which had borne a principal share in all the triumphs of the re- 
public, from the very foundation of its liberty, was of great force to pro- 
tect h;m in all his extravagancies. Secondly, his persona) qualities were pe- 
culiarly adapted to endear him to all the meaner sort; his bold and ready 
wit; his talent at haranguings ; his profuse expense, and his being the first 
of his family who h*d pursued popular measures against the maxims of hi*'" 
ancestors, who were all stern afsertors of the aristocraticalpozcer. Thirdly,- 
1 lie contrast of opposite factions, who had each their ends in supporting- 
him, contributed principally to his safety: Cxsa-r, Tompey, and Grains 
willingly permitted and privately encouraged his violences ; to make their, 
own power not only the lefs odious, but even necefsary for controuling the 
Airy of such an incendiary: and though it was often turned against them- 
selves, yet they chose to bear it, and difsemble their ability of repelling it, 
i than df-stroy th<.: rn.au, who w-as placing t l .?ir game for them ; and- 



CK hl'.u S ORATIONS. 

Sect. XXIX. I am not afraid, mv lords, th.a I should 
to let my resentment fpv persona) iujuj 

charge these things upon him with 

tor thofigh it might be expected this should In- the prii 

motive, yet so common an enemy u as be to all maj 
aversion to him was scarce]}* greater than 
world. It is mipofsihle to exprela, or indeed 
villam, what; a pernicious monster he 
attend to tliis ; fiie present trial relates to thi 
form now in your minds (for our tin 
.sent what they please, just in the same rnan 
what we see) ; form, I say, in your minds, the picture < 
I shall, now describe. Suppose- 1 could persu 
Milo, on condition that Clodius should revi\ 
countenances betray those marks of tear? how woul>' 
you when living, if the bare imagination of him. 
dead, so powerfully strikes you ? what! if Pompey Inula 
man pofsefsed of that merit and fortune which enable him to 
effect what no one besides can ; if he, I say, had it in his po\\ i 
ther to appoint Clodius's death to be inquired into, or to 
from the dead, which do you think he would choose ? i hough from 
a principle of friendship he might be inclined to raise him from 
the dead, yet a regard to his country would prevent him. You 
therefore, sit as the avengers of that man's death, whom you 
would not recal to life if you were able; and inquiry i^ I 
into his death, by a law which would not have pafscd if it i 
have brought him to life. If his destroyer then should confefs 
the fact, nc^d he fear to be punished by those whom he has de- 
livered ? The Greeks render divine honours to those who put 
tyrants to death. What have I seen at Athen:- r what in the 
other cities of Greece ? what ceremonies were instituted for 
such heroes? what hymns? what songs? The honours paid them 
were almost equal to those paid to the immortal gods. And 
will you not only refuse to pay any honours to the preserver 
of so great a people, and .the avenger of such execrable villa 
but even sutler him to be dragged to punishment ? He would 
have confefsed, I sav, had he done the action, he would have 



by throwing the republic into confusion, threw it of course into their hand--. 
The senate," on the other side, whose chief apprehensions were fro 
triumvirate, thought that the rashnefs of Clodius might be of 
perplex their measures, and stir up the people against tin m on prop* r oc- 
casions ; or it humoured their spleen at least, to see him often insulting 
Pompey to his face. Lasi.lv, all who envnd Cicero, and desired ho lefeen 
his authority, privately cherished an enemy who employed all his i 
drive him from the administration Of afrail 

of circumstances, peculiar to the man and the times, was what pn 
Clodius, whose insolence could never haT€ 
regular state of the cirv. 

lis 



4$2 M. t: ciceronis orationes. 

jfecifset, et magno animo, et libenter, se feeifse ljbertatis omnium 
causa : quod ei certe non confitendum modo fuifset, veriim etiam 
praxlicaiidum. 

XXX. Etenini si id non negat, ex quo nihil petit,- nisi nt ig~ 
noscatur ; dubitaret id fateri, ex quo etiam pramia laudis efsent 
petenda ■? nisi vera gratius putat else vobis sui se capitis, quam 
vestri ordinis defensorem fuifse: cumpnesertim in ea confef- 
si one, si grati efse velletis, hoti ore's afsequeretiir ampliisimos : sin 
factum vobis nOn probaretur (quanquam qui poterat sal us sua 
cuiqiie non probari?) sed tamen si minus fortifsimi viri virtus 
civibus grata cecidifset ; magna animo eonstantique eederet ex 
iri«rata civitate ; nam quid efset ingratius, quam Iseteri cateros, 
lugeref eum solum, propter quem coeteri iaetarentur ? Quanquam 
hoc animo semper omnes fuimus in patriae proditoribus oppri° 
mendis, ut, quoniam nostra futura efset gloria, perieulum quo- 
q ; ue et invidiam nostram putaremus ? nam quae mini contribute 
buenda laus efset ipsi, cum tantum in eonsulatu meo pro vobis, 
ac liber is Vestris ausus efsem, si id, quod conabar, sine maximis 
dimicationibus meis me efse ausurum arbitrarer ? qua? mulier 
sceleratum ac perniciosum civem occidere non auderet, si peri- 
eulum non timeret ? Pr'oposita invidia, morte, poena, qui nihilo 
segnius rempub. defendit, is vir vere putandus est. Populi 
grati est, pramiis afficere bene meritos-.de republiea cives : viri 
fortis, ne suppliciis quidem moveri, ut fortiter feeifse poiniteat. 
Quamobrem uteretur eadem confefsione T. Annius, qua Ahala, 
qua Nasica, qua Opimius, qua Marius, qua riosmetipsi : et,.si 
grata respublica efset, lataretur ; si ingrata, tamen in gravifortu- 
na, conscientia sua niteretur. Sed ujus beneficii gratium, judices, 
fortuna populi Romani, et vest fa ielicitas, et dii immortales s-ibi 
deberi putant. Nee vero quisquam aliter arbitrari potest, nisi 
qui nullam vim efse ducit, numenve divinum t quem neque, im= 
perii vestri magnitudo, neque sol ille, nee cseli signorumque 
motus, nee vicifsitudin.es rerum atque ordines movent, neque, 
id quod maximum est, majorum . nostrorum "sapieiitia ; qui sacra, 
qui cacremonias, qui auspicia et ipsi sanetifsime coluerunt, et 
nobis suis posteris prodiderutit. 

XXXI. Est, est profecto ilia vis : neque in his corporibus, atque 
in hac -imbecillitate nostra inest quiddam,quodvigeat, etsentiat. 



CICERo's ORATJ« 

bravely and freely ponfefsed that be did it for tin 
good ; and indeed he ought not only to 
have proclaimed it. 

Sect. XXX. For if he docs not deny nn a 
desires nothing- but pardon, is it likely that lie would 
confefs what he might hope to be rewarded for; u 
it is more agreeable to you, that he should d< 
than the lives of your order r especially as, b) 
sion, if you were inclined to be grateful, he n 
tain the noblest honours. But a you had not approved 
action, (though how is it pofsible that a person can disapprove 
of his own safety r) if the courage of the bravest man alivi 
not been agreeable to his countrymen, he would have dep 
with steadinefs and resolution from so ungrateful a city. 1 i 
what can show a greater ingratitude than that all should re- 
joice, while he alone remained disconsolate, who was the 
of all the joy ? Yet, in destroying the enemips of our country, 
this has been our constant persuasion, that as the glory would 
be ours, so we should expect our share of odium and danger. 
For what praise had been due to me, when in my consulate J 
made so many hazardous attempts for you and your posterity, 
if I could have proposed to carry my designs into execution 
without the greatest struggles' and difficulties ? What woman 
would not dare to kill the most villanous and outrageous cr 
if she. had no danger to fear ? But the. man who bravely defends 
his country with the prospect of public odium, danger, and 
death, is a man indeed. It is the duty of a grateful people to 
bestow distinguished honours npon distinguished patriots ; and 
it is the part of a brave man, not to be induced by the greatest 
sufferings to repent of having boldly discharged his duty. Milo 
therefore might have made the eonfclsiou which Aha la, N 
Opimius, Marios, and I myself formerly made. And had his 
country been grateful, he might have rejoiced ; if ungrateful, 
his conscience must still have supported him under ii: 
But that gratitude is due to him for this favour, my Ion, 
fortune of Rome, your own preservation, and the hum. 
all declare. Nor is it polsible that any man can think i I 
wise, buthe who denies the existence of an over 
or divine Providence; who is unaffected by the ui 
empire, the sun itself, the revolutions of the l\eavenjy hodie 
changes and laws of. mature, and above all, the v >\ our 

ancestors, who religiously observed the sacred rites, ceremo 
and auspices, and carefully transmitted them to their post* 

Sect. XXXI. There is, there certainly is such a power; nor 
can this grand and beautiful fabric of nature be without an am. 
5 I i 3 



4§4 M. T. CICERONIS ORATlONES. 

et non incst in hoc tanto naturae tam pnrclaro rriotu ; nisi for! -3 
idcirco else non putunt, qui non apparet, nee cerriitur : pro- 
inde quasi nostrum ipsam mentem, qua sapimus, .qua provide- 
mus, qua boec ipsa agimus ac dicimus, videre, aut plane quails^ 
aut ibi sit, sentire pofsknus. Ea vis, ea est igitur ipsa; quas 
sa a pe incredibiles huic urbi felicitates, atque opes attulit: qua? 
illam perniciem Qxstinxit, ac sustulit: cut pvinium menteni m- 
]ecit, ut vi irritare ferroque lacefsere fortiisimum virum auderet, 
vincereturque ab eo, quern si vicifset, habiturus efset impuhita- 
tern et licentiam sempiternam. Non est humano consilio, ne 
mediocri quidem, judices, deorum immortalium cura res ilia 
perfecta; religiones, mehercule, ipsae, quae illam beliuam ca~ 
tiere viderunt, commovifse se videntur, et jus in illo.suum re- 
tinuifse; vos enim jam, Albani tumuli atone luci, vos, inquam, 
imploro, atque obtestor, vosque Albanorum obrutac ara>, ( 6l ) 
sacrorum populi Romani sbciae et ocquales, quas ilie picccep^ 
amentia, caesis prostratisque sanctifkimis iucis, substructionum 
insanis molibus opprefserat : vestrae turn ara?, vestrae religiones 
viguerunt, vestra vis valuit, quam ille omni scelere polluerat: 
tuque extuo edito monteLatiari, sancte Jupiter, cujus ilie ]acus ? 
nemora, finesque sacpe omni nefario stuproet scelere raacularat, 
aliquando ad eum punieiidum oculos aperuisti : vobis ilke, vobis 
vestro in conspectu serae, sed justae tamen et debitae poenae so- 
lutae sunt. Nisi forte hoc etiam casu factum efse dicemus, ut 
ante ipsum sacrarium Bonas Dea?, quod est in fund o T. Sextii 
Galli, in primis hone»ti et ornati adolescentis, ante ipsam, in- 
quam, Bonam Deam, cum proelium commisiiset, primum illud 
vulnus acceperit, quo teterrirriam mortem obiret : ut npn abso- 
lutusjudicio illo iietario videretur, sed ad banc insignem pcenam 
reservatus. 

XXXII. Nee verb non eademira deorum banc ejus satellitibus 
injecit ameutiam, ut sine imaginibus, sine cantu, (**) sine ludi's, 
sine exsequiis, sine lamentis, ( 63 ) sine laudationibus, sine 

(61) Sacrorum populi Romani socice et tcqvales.~] Cicero here refers to 
those rites which Were common to all the people of Latium, with the Ko- 
mans. They were at first instituted by Tarquinius Superbus, who, in or- 
der to keep the Latin afsociation firm to their engagements with him, 
erected a new temple in the midst of them to Jupiter I atialis, on a hill 
near the ruins of Alba, -where the diets of the united cantons were anriufelly 1 
to afsemble'cn the twenty-seventh of April, which was called Fcrricc Laiiiue^ 
and jointly offer sacrifices to Jupiter, and feast together in token of union. « 

(62) Sive ludis.~] The heathens imagined that the ghosts of the deceased 
•were satisfied, and rendered propitious by human blood; accordingly at 
first they used to buy captives, or untoward slaves, and offered theni 
at the obsequies. Afterwards they contrived' to veil over their impious 
barbarity with the specious show of pleasure, and voluntary combat ; and 
therefore training up such persons as they had procured, in some tolerable 
notion of weapons; upon the day appointed for. the sacrifices to the de- 
parted ghosts, they obliged them to maintain a mortal encounter at the 
tombs of their friends. Hence arose the gladiatorian shows which were 
exhibited at the funerals of great men for appeasing their manes. 



mating principle, when th( 

are endowed with lite and perception. 

think otherwise, because it is not immed 

them j as if we could discern that prtnei] 

sight by which we act and speak, or < 

manner and place of its existence. This, thi 

power which has often, in a wonijerfuj ma:: 

Rome with glory and prosperity ; which t 

removed this plague; which inspip-d him 

to irritate by violence, and provoke by 

of men, in order to he conquered b\ him; a 

-would have procured him eternal impunity, u 

to his audaciousnefs. This, my lords, was u 

human prudence, nor even by the common care of t!. 

mortal gods. Our sacred places themselves, by I which 

saw this monster fall, seemed to be interested in his late, 

and to vindicate their rights in his destruction. Fo¥ YOilj ye 

Alban mounts and groves, I implore and attest, ye demolished 

altars of the Albans, the companions and partm is of' the i; 

rites, which his fury, after having demolished the saei « 

buried under the extravagant piles of bis building. Upon his 

fall, your altars, your rites flourished, your power \ 

which he had defiled with all manner of villany. And you, U 

venerable Jupiter! from your lofty Latian mount, whose lake , 

whose woods and borders he polluted with the mo.->t abominable 

lust and every species of guilt, at last opened your e 

hold his destruction : to you, and in your presence, wa 

late, but just and deserved penalty paid, lor surely M 

never be alleged, that, in his encounter with Milo before the 

chapel of the Bona l)ea, which stands upon the esnue of that 

worthy and accomplished youth, P. Sextius Callus, it was by 

chance he received that first wound, which delivered him I 

a shameful death, I may say under the eye of the goddel . 

self; no, it was that he might appear not acquitted hy I 

famous decree, but reserved only for this signal punishm 

Sect. XXXII. Nor can it be denied, that the 
gods inspired his followers with such madnefs as to 
the flames his exposed body without pageants, without sin 
without shows, without pomp, without lamentations, wi 



(63) Sine laudationibus.~\ In all the fi 4 <>ra!> of iiv.t 
brought with a vast train of followers into the forum, ' of tin 

nearest relations alVending the rpstra, obliged the audience wit 
in praise of the deceased. If none of the Kindred undei I 
was discharged by some of the most eminent persons in I 
jug and eloquence, as A p pi an reports of the funeral of S) ha. 
tion of this custom is generally attributed toValeriu 
the expulsion of the royal family. Plutarch I 
alu'i'^ues obsequies with a funeral oi 



496 M. T. CICERQNIS ORATrONES, 

f unere, oblitus cruore et Into, spoliatus illius supremi dici celebri- 
tate, quam concedere etiam inimici solent, ambureretur abjectus ; 
non fuifse credo fas, clarifsimorum virorum fonuas ijji teterrinio 
parricidue aliquid deporis afferre, neque pllo in loco potius mor- 
tem ejus lacerari, quam in quo vita eiset damnata. Dura mihi, 
medius lidius, jam fortuna populi Roman} et crudelis yidebatur, 
qua? tot annos ilium in banc rempubl. insultare vicjeret et pate- 
r'etur; polluerat supro sanetifsimas religioqes : senates gravifsima 
decreta perfregerat : pecunia se palam a jndicibus redeinerat; 
( 6+ ) vexarat in tribunatu senatum: ( 6s ) pmniuni ordinum con- 
sensu prp salute reipublica? gesta resciderat; mp patria expule- 
rat; bona diripuerat; dpmum incenderat; jiberos, conjugem 
meam yexaverat : Cn. Pompeio netariiim bejlum indixerat: 
anagistratuum, privatorumque csedes eflecerat, domum mei fra- 
tris incenderat: yastarat Etruriam : multps sedibus ap fortunis 
ejecerat : instabat : urgpbat : capere ejus amentiam pivitas, 
Italia, proyincise, regna non poterant: incidebantur jam domi 
leges, qua3 nos nostris seryis addicerent; nihil erat cujusquam, 
quod quidem ille adamafspt, quod non hoc anno suum fore pu- 
taret. Obstabat ejus cogitationibus nemo, praetor Milonem. 
Ilium ipsuni, qui poterat obstarp, Cn. Pompeium, novo reditu 
in gratiam quasi devinctum arbitrabatur : Csesaris potentiam, 
suam potentiam efse dicebat: bpnorum animos etiam in meq 
casu cpntempserat : Miio unus urgebat* 

XXXIII. Hfc dii immortales, ut supra dixi, mentem dede<? 
runt illi perdito ac furioso, ut huic facerat insidias: aliter perire 
pestis ilia non potuit; nunquam ilium resp. suo jure efset ulta. 
SenatUs, credo, prsetorum euro circumscripsifset ; ne cum so- 
lebat quidem id facere, in privato eoclem hoc aliquid profe- 
cerat. An cpnsules in prsetore cpercendo fortes fuifsent? pri- 
mum, Milone occisp, habuifset sups cpnsules ; deinde quis in 
eo ^rcetore consul fortis eiset, per quern trjbunum, yiirum con- 
suicirem crudelifsime vexatum efse meminifset; omnia pofside- 
ret, teneret: lege nova, qufe est inventa apud eum cum reliquis 
iegibus .Clodianis, servos nostros libertos suos iecifset; postre- 
mo, nisi eum dii immortales in earn mentem impulifsent, ut ho- 
mo effoeminatus fortiisimum yirum coharetur occidere, bodie 
rempubl. nullam haberetis. An ille praetor, ille vero consul, 

lecame customary for the best men to celebrate the funerals of great persons 
with speeches in their commendatnm. 

(64) Vexarat in tfibunatu senatum.'] Clodius, the more effectually to ruin 
Cicero, had, in his tribuneshij), decreed provinces to Gabinius and Piso, 
contrary to the authority of the senate. 

'($$} Omnium ordinum consensu pro - salute reipublicce gesta resciderat.'] 
Though the putting Catiline's accomplices to death was not done by Cicero's 
single authority, but by a general vote of the senate, and after a solemn 
hearing and debate, yet Clodius pretended it was illegal; and accordingly 
pafsed a law, importing, that whoever had taken the life of a citizen wiccn- 
demmd and uithout trial, should be prohibited from jive and mater. 



CtCElO'l ORATIONS. 

.oration in his praise, without t 

gore and dirt, and deprived or' that funeral sol 

always granted e\en to era 
I imagine, that the images of such ii. 
grace so monstrous a parricide; nor could b 
Bogs, when dead, in a more proper p 
had been so often condemned wikie alive. 
of the Roman people seemed to me hard and ci 
and suffered him to insult the state 
hied with hist our most sacred rues; viol. | 
.decrees oi' the senate ; openly corrupted hisjn 
the senate in his tnbuneship ; abolished th 
pafsed with the concurrence of every order foi I 
state; drove me from my country; plundered my c 
my house; persecuted my wife and children, 
ecrable war against Pompey ; afsafsinated i iti- 

zens ; burnt my brother's house; laid '1 i 
many from their habitations and estates ; w at 
rious; neither Koine, Italy, provinces nor king 
fine his frenzy. In his house laws were hatcln 
to subject us to our own slaves; thejre was o< 
to any one, which he coveted, that this year he dj 
would be his own. None but Milo opposed his he 

looked upon Pompey, the man who was best able 
him, as firmly attached to his interest, by their lati illa- 

tion. The power of Caesar he called his own ; and my fall bad 
taught him to despise the sentiments of ali good 
alone resisted him. 

Sect. XXXIII. In this situation, the nun 
before observed, inspired that furious miscreant with 
way-lay Milo. No otherwise could the monster ha 
stroyed; the state could never have avenged if Is 

it to be imagined that the senate could have restrained him w 
he was praetor : after having effected I 
in a private sL.tt.ion ? Could the consuls 
to check then- pra?tor? In the first place, had 
the two consuls must have been of his faction ; 
Avhat consul would have had courage to op] 
Avhom lie remembered, while tribune, to h; 

1 a person of consular dignity? He might lmv< 
seized- and obtained, every thing; b; law which 

found among the oilier Clodian I; 
slaves his freed-meh. In short, had i 

spired him, effeminate a '•> of 

attempting to kill the brj 
had no republic. Had he be* 

ed we can suppose that t' 



M. T. CICJERONIS ORATIONES. 

si modo hire templa, atquc ipsa moenia stare, eo viro, tamdia ? 
et consulates ejus exspectare potuifsent, ille denique vivus mail 
nihil feeifeebj qui mortuus, un.p ex suis satellitibus Sex. Clodio 
dime, curiam iueenderit? quo quid miserius, quid acerbius, quid 
luctuosius vidimus? templum sanctitatis, amplitudinis, mentis, 
consilii publici, caput urbis, aram sociorum, portum omnium 
gentium, sedem ab universo populo Komano concefsam uni or- 
dini, inrlammari, exscindi, funestari? neque id fieri a multitu- 
dine imperita (quanquam efset miser um id ipsum) sed ab uno. 
qui cum taut urn ausus sit ultor. pro mortuq, qujd signifer pro 
vivo non efset ausus ? In curiam potifsimum abjecit, ut earn 
mortuus incenderet, quam vivus evertorat. Et sinit ? qui de via 
Appia querantur, taceant de curia? et qui ab eo spirante forum 
patent potuifse defendi, cujus lion restiterit cadaveri curia? Ex- 
eitate, excitate ipsum ? si potestis, abinferis; frangetis impetum 
vivi, cujus vix sustinetis r'urias ipsepulti ? nisi vero sustinuistis 
eos qui cum facibus ad curiam concurrerunt, cum falcibus ad 
Castoris, cum gladiis toto foro voiitarunt. C«di vidistis populuin 
Ilomanum, ^concionem gladiis disturbari, ( £6 ) cum audiretur si- 
lentipM. Coelius tribunus plebis, vir et in repub. fortifsimus, ( 6 ?) 
et jn suscepta causa, firmilsimus, et bonoriim voluntati et aucto- 
ritati Senatus deditus, et in bac Milonjs sive invidia ? sive for- 
tuna singulari, diyiiia, et incredibili fide. 

XXXIV. Sed jam satis multa de causa : extra causam etiam 
nimis fortafse multa. Quid restat, nisi ut orem pbtesterque vos. 
judices, ut earn misericordiam tribuatis fortifsimo viro, quam 
ipse non implorat; ego antem, repugqante hoc, et iinploro, et 
exposco? Nolite, si in nostro omnium fletu nullam lacrymam 
adspexistis Milonis, si vultum semper eundem, si vocem, si ora- 
tipnem. stabilem ac non mutatam videtis, hoc ei minus parcere : 
atque baud scio an multo etiam sit adjuvandus magis. Etenim 



(€6) Cum audiretur silenliQ M. Cielius tribunus plebis. ~\ AsMilp returned 
to Rome the same night on which the senate-house was set on five, Coelius, 
one of the tribunes of the people, having called an afsembly of all those 
who favoured Milo, inveighed severely against Clodius, and enumerated 
the various instances of his guilt and vilfany ; upon which the rest of the 
tribunes rushed into the forum, with a body of armed men, and had killed 
both Cceiius and Milo, if they had not drefsed themselves like slaves, and 
by that means made their escape. They killed many of the citizens, those 
especially who by their drefs seemed to be persons of distinction; and un- 
der a pretence of searching for Milo, forced their way into many houses, 
and plundered them. This account we have from Asconius, who instead 
of Coelius reads Ccecitius. 

(.6-7) Et in suscepta causa firmifsimus.~\ Pompey, to calm the public dis- 
orders occasioned by Clodius's death, published several new laws, by one 
of which the method of trials was altered, and the length of them limited: 
three days were allowed for the examination of witnefses, and the fourth 
for the sentence ; on which the accuser was to have two hours only to en- 
force the charge; the criminal three, for his defence. Cceiius, or Cceciliu$ 



CICKRo'* ORATIONS. 

frave stood till his consulship, in short, had h< 

he have committed no mischief; who, when dead, I 

potion of Sextus Clodius, one of hid dep 

house on tire 't Was e. , adful, u 

and more miserable? That the temple of huh:: 

wisdom; public counsel, the head o 

her allies, the refuse of all n 

order by the unanimous voice oi the Roman 

fired, erased, 'and defiled! and not by a giddy 

even that would have been dreadful; hut bv one man 

he dared to commit such havoek for hisdeceaft d frt< 

vender, what would he not, as a hauler, have done for him 

when living? He chose to throw the body of Clodius im 

senate-house, that, when dead, he might burn what he 

subverted when living-. Are there any who complain <• 

'Appian way, and yet are silent as to the senate In 

we imagine that the fprum could have been defend, 

that man, when living, whose lifelels corse destroyed til 

house? Raise, raise him if you can from the dead; wii: 

break the* force of the living man, when you can 

the rage occasioned by 'his unburied body? unlets you pn 

that you sustained the attacks of those who ran to ti 

house with torches, to the temple of Castor with scythes, 

flew all over the forum with swords. You saw the Korean 

people mafsacred, an ufsembly attacked with arms, win;. 

were attentively hearing Marcus Cojlius, the tribune < i 

people ; a man undaunted in the service oj the republic; nn it 

resolute in whatever cause he undertakes ; devoted to good men, 

and to the authority of the senate; and who has discove 

divine and amazing fidelity to Milo under his present eir< 

stances: to which he was reduced either by the force ef envy, 

or a singular turn of fortune. 
y 

Sect. XXXIV. But now I have said enough in I 
the cause, and perhaps taken too much liberty in i 
from'" the main subject. What then remains but to be 
adjure you, my lords, to extend that compafsion to a I 
Vi Inch he disdains to implore, but which I, even a is con- 

sent, implore and earnestly intreat. Though you have no 
him shed a single tear while ail are weeping around h. 
he has preserved the same' steady countenance, 
nels of voice and language, do not on this account with: 
from him; indeed I know not whether these circun 



vigorously opposed this law, as having no foundation in j 
jhYd being provided particular!) Milo. Ih 

draw his' negative, however, upon Pomp«»y'i 
support it by force of anus. 



500 M, T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

si in gladiatoriis pugnis, etin infimi generis hominum conditione 
atque Ibrtuna, timidos et supplicesj et, ut vivere liceat, obse- 
crantcs, etiam odiise solemus: fortes et animosos, et se acriter 
ipsos morti ofTerentes servare cupimus: eorumque nos magis 
miserat, qui nostram misericordiam non requirunt, quam qui 
ilium efflagitant: quanto hoe magis in fortifsimis civibus face re 
debemus? Me quidem, judices, exanimant et interimunt hae 
voces Milonis, quas audio afsidue, et quibus intersum quotidie. 
Valeant, inquit, valea-nt cives mei ; sitit ineolumes, sint florentes, 
sint beati: stet hsec urbs praeclara, mihique patria cariisima 
quoque modo merita de me erit ; tranquilla repub. cives mei, 
quoniam mihi cum illis non licet, sine me ipsi, sed per me ta-~ 
men, perfruantur; ego cedam, atqae abibo; si mihi republica 
bona frui non licuerit, at carebo mala : et, quam primum teti- 
gero bene moratam et liberam civitatem-, in ea conquiescarrh 
O irustra, inquit, suscepti mei labores I 6 spes falkces ! 6 co- 
gitationesinanesmeae! ego, cum tribunus pleb. repub. opprefea, 
me senatui-dedifsem, quern exstinctum acceperam j equitibus 
Ilomanis, quorum vires erant debiles ; bonis viris, qui omnem 
auctoritatem Ciodianisarmisabjecerant; mihi unquam bonorum 
praesidium defuturum putarem ? Ego, cum te (mecum enim. 
saepifsimi loquitur) patriae reddidifsem, mihi non futurum in pa- 
tria putarem locum ? Ubi nunc senatus est, quern secuti sumus? 
ubi equites Romani illi, illi, inquit, tui? ubi studia municipio- 
rum r ubi Italian voces? ubi denique tua, M. Tulli, quas pluri- 
mis fuit auxilio, vox et defensio? mihi-ne ea soli, qui pro te 
toties mom me obtuli, nihil potest opitulari. 

XXXV. Nee vero haec, judices, ut ego.nunc, flens, sed hoc 
eodem loquitur vultu, quo videtis ; nega£ enim se, negat 
ingratis civibus fecifse, quae fecerit ; timidis, et omnia circum- 
spicientibus pcrecula, non negat j- plebem et infimam multitu- 



cicero's orations. 

Hot to plead with you in his favour. If in th< 
gladiators, where persons of the lowest rank. 
the people, are engaged, we look with so much contem] 
cowards, on those Who meanly beg their lives, and ai 
of saving the brave, the intrepid, and those who < 
their breasts to the sword; if, 1 say, we feel mor< 
those who seem above asking our pity, than tor tl 
earnestnefs ■ intreat it ; how mueh more ought we to be 
affected where the interests of our bravest citi/ens 
cerned? The words of Milo, ray lords, which I 
utters, and which I daily heat, kill and confound 
fellow-citizens, says he, flourish! may they he safe, m.r, 
be glorious, may they be happy ! May this renowned city | 
per, and my country, which shall ever be dear to me, in what- 
soever manner she shall please to treat me: since I must not 
live with my fellow-citizens, let them enjoy peace and tran- 
quillity without me \ but then, to me let them owe their liappU 
nefs. I will withdraw, and retire into exile; if I cannot be a 
member of a virtuous commonwealth, it will be some sati 
tion not to live in a bad one; and, as soon as I set foot within a 
well-regulated and free state, there will I fix my abode. 
cries he, my fruitlefs toils! my fallacious hopes! my vain and 
empty schemes ! Could I, who in my tribuneship, when the 
was under opprefsion, gave myself up wholly to the service of 
the senate, which I found almost destroyed ; to the s 
the Roman knights, whose strength was so much weakened ; 
to the service of all good citizens, from whom the oppn 
arms of Clodius had wrested their due authority ; could I ever 
have imagined I should want a guard of honest men to defend 
me? When I restored }-ou to your country (for we frequ 
discourse together,) could I ever have thought that I should be 
driven myself into banishment? Where is now that senafc 
whose interest we devoted ourselves ? Where, where, 
are those Roman knights of yours ? What is become of that \\ arm 
affection the municipal towns formerly testified in your favour? 
What is become of the acclamations of all Italy ? What 
come of thy art, of thy eloquence, my Tully, which bai 
often been employed to preserve your fellow - 
only person, to whom alone they can give no aisistanec ; 1, 
who have so often engaged my life in your defence ? 

Sect. XXXV. Nor does he utter such sentiment 
lords, as I do now, with tears, but with the same intrei 
tenanee you now behold. For he denies, he absolute 
that his fellow-citizens have repaid his services with ingratitude , 

but he confefscs they have been too timorous, too .. | 
.sive of danger. He declares, that in order to insure \ < 



M. T CICKRQNIS ORAT-I0NE3. 

dinem, quae, P. Clodio duce,' fortunis vestris irmninebat, e'aijrry 
quo tutior elset vita vcstra, suam se feeifse commemorat ; ut 
non rnodo virtute tteeteret, ( 68 ) sed etiam tribus suis patrimonies 
deliniret. : nee timet, ; ne, eiini plebeiu muneribus placant, vos 
non conciliarit mentis in' rempubiicum singulariivus. Senatus 
erga se benevolentiamtempovibus his ipsis s;.epe else perspectam : 
vestras vero, et vestrorum ordiiui'in occu'rsationes, studiay ser- 
mones, quemcunque eursnm for tun a dederit, sccmn se abla- 
turum else dicit. Meininit etiam sibi.vocem pryeConis mode de- 
iuifse, quam minime desidcrant; populi vero eunctis suilra^iis,; 
quod unum cupierit, se eonsulem dcclaratum ; mm6 denique, 
si haec^arma contra se sint futura, sibi faci irons su-spicionem,- nor* 
iacti crimen obstare. Addit hate, quae eerie vera sunt, FORTES 
ET SAPIENTES VIUOS non tarn praemia sequi solere recte 
factorum, . quam ipsa recte facta; se nihil in vita, nisi prsecla- 
nlsime, feeifse : siquidem nihil sit pi-a^stabilius viro, quam peri- 
culis patriam liberare: beatos else, quibus ea res honori fuerit at 
suis civibus: nee tamen, eos shiseros, qui bcueficio cites suos 
vicerint; sed tamen, ex omnibus pranniis virtutis, si efset ha- 
benda ratio prasmioriim, ( 6 9) ainplifsimum efse prsemium glo- 
riam; efse ' hanc imam, quse brevitateni vitae posteritatis memo- 
ria consolaretur ; quae etiiceret, ut absentes adefsemus, mortui 
viveremus : banc denique efse, cujus gradibus etiam homines 
in cceium videantur ascendere. I)e me, inquit ? semper popiilus 
Romanus, semper q pane's gentes loquentur, nulla unquam ob- 
mutescet vetustas; quirr hoc tempore ipso, cum omues a meis 
inimicis faces invidlse meae subjieiantur, tamen omni in homi- 
\um coetu, gratiis agendis, et gratulatiombus h abend is, et omni 
sermoni celebramur. Omitto j^truria; festos et actos, et institutos 
dies: centesima lux est base ab interitu P. Clodii, et, opinor, 
altera : qua fines imperii popuii Romani sunt, ea non solum 
fama jam de liio, sed etiam fcetitia peragravit. Quainobrem ubi 

(63) Sed etiam fribus suis patrimoniis deliniret.'] Milo had three estates ; 
one left him by his father, another by his mother, and the third by Caiu> 
Annius, his grandfather by the mother's side, by whom he was adopted. 
Ail the three he spent upon largefses arid public sports, for which he 
was charged with .bribery ;. but Cicero says, these largefses were bestowed 
iipon the people by Milo, with no other design but that the rich might 
be preserved from being robbed. 

(69) AmpUfsimum efse premium, <rloriar?i.~\ It will not seem strange to 
obs.er,ve the wisest of the ancients pushing this- principle to so great a 
length, and considering glory as the amplest reward of a, well spent life, 
when we reflect that the greatest part off hem had no notion of any other 
reward or futurity; arid even those who believed a state of happinefs to the 
good, yet entertained it with so much dim' deuce,' that they indulged it ra- 
ther as a wish, than a well-grounded hope ;- and were ghid, therefore, tQ lay 
hold on that which seemed to be within their reach, a, futurity of their own 
creating; an immortality of fame and glory from the applause of posterity. 
This, by a pleasing fiction, they looked upon as a propagation cf life, . 
and an eternity of existence; and had no small comfort in imagining, 



CICEROfi 

he gained over the common people, all th< 

lace, to his interests, when under 

threatened your property and your live: th il 

ed them by his resolution, but soothed tin 

of his three inheritances. And while by his lib 

the fury of the people, he entertain* not the l< 

his extraordinary services to the stale will i i 

fection and favour. Repeated proofs of I 

acknowledges that he has received, even upon tL 

sion; an'd declares, that wherever fortune ma 

Can never deprive him of those marks of honour, , ud at- 

fection, conferred upon him by you and 

He recollects too that he was declared consul bj 

suffrage of the people, the only thing he valued oj 

that, in order to his beiug invested with thai office, the \> 

the crier was only wanting ; a matter, in bis op in 

little importance. But now if these arn • he tui 

against him at last, it is a satisfaction to him thai it is not 

to his guilt, but to the suspicion of it. ih 

what is unquestionably true, that the brave and wise perfo 

great actions, not so much on account of the reward* attend i 

them, as on account of their own intrinsic excellence; ti 

through his whale course of life, whatever he has done I. 

nobly done, since nothing can he more truly great, than for a 

man to rescue his country from impending dangers: th 

arc without doubt happy, whom their fellow-citiz< 

paid with their due reward of honour, but that neither are th 

to be esteemed unhappy whose services have 

rewards. Yet, should we in the pursuits of virtue have an} 

its rewards in view, he is convinced that the noblest of all is 

glory; that this alone Compensates the short nets of lifo, b\ I 

immortality of fame ; that by this we arc still present 

sent from the world, and survive even alter death : and I 

the steps of glory, in short, mortals seem to mount to I 

Of me, says he, the people of Rome, all the nat 

*;arth, shall talk, and my name shall he km 

posterity. Nay, at this very time, when all my enemi 

bine to inflame an universal odium again, t me, ye: I 

the thanksy congratulations, and applauses of ever;. 

Not to mention the Tuscan festivals instituted in honoui 

•it is now about an hundred days since the death i 

and yet, I am persuaded, riot only the lauu: oj thi< ai tion, 

the joy arising from it, has readied beyond I 

of the Roman empire. It is therefore, continues 1 



that though the sense of it should not roach to themselves, il w< 

at least to others; and that they Should be II when d I 

leaving the example of their virtues to the imitation of m 

1 6 



504 M. T. CICERONlS ©RATIONED 

corpus hoc s\ij non, inquit, laboro, quoniam omnibus in tenh 
et jj.ni versatur, et semper habitabit nominis mei gloria. 

XXXVI. Ha?C tu mecum snepe, his absentibas ; sed iisdenr 
auciientibus, hax ego tecum Milo. Te quidem, quod isto am- 
mo es, satis laudare non poisum, sed quo est ilia magis divina 
virtus j eo majqre a te dolore divellor. Nee vero, si mihi eri- 
peris, reiiqua est ilia tamen ad consolandum querela, ut his' 
irasei pofsim* a quibus tantum vuhvus accepero ;* non enim ini- 
mici mei te mihi eripient, sed amieifsimi: non male aliquando 
de me meriti, sed semper optime.- Nullum unquam, judices, 
mihi tantum dolorem inuretis (etsi^ quis potest else tantusr) sed 
ne hunc quidem ipsum, ut obhvisear, quanti me semper feceri- 
tis; quse si vos cepit oblivio, aut si in me aliquid offendistisy 
cur non id meo capite potius luitu-r, cjuam Milonis? Prseclare 
enim vixero ; si quid mihi accident prius/ quam .hoc tantum 
mail videro. Nunc me una eonsolatio sustentat, quod tibi, 6 
T. Anni nullum a me anions, nullum studii, nullum pietatis 
officium defuit. ( 7o ) Ego inimicitias potentium pro te appe- 
tivi: ego meum Sirpe corpus et vitam objeci arm-is inimicorum. 
tuorum: ego me plurimis pro te supplieem abjeci: bona, for- 
tunas meas ae liberorum meorum in eommunionem tuorum 
temporum contuli: hoc clenique^ipso die, si qua vis est parata, 
si qua dimicatio capitis futura, deposco. Quid jam restat ? 
quid habeo qucxi dicam, quod i'aciam pro tuis in me mentis, 
nisi ut earn f'ortunam, qnsecunque erit tua, dueam meam? Non 
recuse, non abnuo: vosque obsecro, judices, utvestra beneficia, 
quae in me eontulistis, aut in hujus salute augeatis, in ,aut ejus- 
dem exitio occasura efse videatis. 

XXXVII. His lacrymis non movetur Milo ; est qiiodam in- 
credibili robore animi: exsilium ibi else putat, ubi virtuti non 
sit locus: mortem naturae finem else, non pcenam. Sit hie ea 
mente, qua natus est; quid? vos judices, quo tandem ammo 
eritis? memoriam Milonis retinebitis, ipsum ejicietis ? et erit. 
diguior locus in terris villus) qui hanc virtutem excipiat, quam 
Lie qui procreavit? Vos, vos appello, fortiisimi viri, qui mul- 
tum pro republica sangmnem eliudistis j vos in viri et in civis 



(70) Ego inimicitias potentium pro te appetivi.~] So warm and steady- 
was our orator's friendship to Milo, so great his attachment to him, that 
neither the number of the Clodian faction, nor the great power of Pompey,, 
could deter him from undertaking his defence. 



cicero's orations. 

hnportancc to mo, how this body of mine, is disposed of, 
the glory of thy name already tills, and shall ever pol 
region of the earth. 

I Sect. XXXVI. This, Mild, is what you have often talked 
to me, while these were absent; and now that tin 
sent, I repeat it to you. Your fortitude I cannot >uiheientlv 
applaud, but the riiore noble and divine your virtue appe 
trie, the more distrefs I feel in being torti from you. Nor 
you are separated from me, shall I have the poor consolation of 
Being tffigry with those who give the wound r for the separation 
is not made by my enemies, but by mv friends: not bv I 
■who have at any time treated me injuriously, but bv those to 
whom I have been always highly obliged. Load me, mv lords, 
with as severe afflictions as you please, even with that I have 
just mentioned (and none surely can be more severe), yet shall 
I ever retain a grateful sense of your former favours. IJut if you 
have lost the remembrance of these, or if 1 have fallen under 
your displeasure, why do not ye avenge yourselves rather upon 
me, than Milo ? Long and happily enough shall I have lived, 
could I but die before such a calamity befall me. Now I have 
Only one consolation to support me, the eonsciousnefs of having 
performed fdr thee, my Milo, every good office of love and 
friendship it was in my power to perform. For thee, I have 
dared the resentment of the great and powerful: for th< 
have often exposed ttiy life to the swords of thy enemies: tor 
thee, I have oiten prostrated myself as a suppliant : I have cm- 
barked my own and my family's estate, on the same bottom 
with thine ; and at this very hour, if you are threatened with any 
violence, if vour life runs any hazard, I demand a share in your 
danger. What now remains ? what can I say? what can I do 
to repay the obligations I am under to you, but embrace your 
fortune, whatever it shall be, as my own ? I will not refu 
accept my share m it: and, my lords, I intreat you either to 
crown the favours you have conferred upon me by the preser- 
vation of my friend, or cancel them by his destruction. 

Sr.cT. XXXVII. Milo, I perceive, beholds my tears without 
the least emotion. Incredible thinned of soul ! he thinks him- 
self in exile there, where virtue has no place ; and looks upon 
death, not as a punishment, but as the period ot our lives. 
Let him then retain that noblenefs of soul, which is natural to 
him; but how, mv lords, are you to determine: Will T 
preserve trie memory of Milo,' and yet drive his person into 
banishment? And shall there be found on earth a place more 
worthy the residence of such virtue, than that which gave it 
birth? On you, on von I call, ye heroes, who have lost so 
much blood'ia the service of vcur country J to ymi, ye c* 

Kit 



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIQNES. 

invicti appcllo. periculo, centuriones, vosque milites:. vobis nan- 
modo inspectantibus, seel etiam armatis, et huic judicio praesir 
cfe'nt'ibus', hsfiC tanta virtus ex hac urbe expel.letur ? extermina- 
bitur? projicietur? O me iiuserum! me infelicem ! revocare tu 
me in patriam, Milo, potuisti per hos ? ego te in patria per 
epsdem retinere non potero? Qmd respondebo liberis meis, 
qui te parentem alterum putant? quid tibi, Q. frater, qui nunc 
abes, consorti rxiecum temporum illorum? me non potuifse 
Mifehis salutem tueri per eosdem, per quos nostram ille ser- 
vafsetr at in qua causa non potuifse ? quae est grata gentibus ? 
a quibus non potuifse? ab iis, qui maxime P. Clodii morte ac- 
quierunt ; quo deprecante ? me., Quodnam ego concepi tan- 
tum seel us ? aut quod in me tantum facinus admisi, judices, cum 
ilia indicia communis exitii indagavi, patefeci, protuli, ex- 
stinxi ? ( 7< ) omnes in me meosque redundant ex fonte illo dolores, 
Quid me reducem efse voluistis I an ut, inspectante me, e,x- 
pelierentur ii, per quos efsem restitutus ? Nolite, obsecro vos, 
pati, mihi acerbiorem reditum efse, quam fuerit ille ipse dis- 
cefsus. Nam qui pofsum putare me restitutum efse, si distrahor 
ab lis, per quos restitutus sum ? 

XXXVIII. Utinamdii immortales feeifsent (pace tua, patria,.. 
dixerim : metuo enim ne scelerate dicam in te, quod pro Milone 
di'cam pie) ut P. Clodius non modo viveret, sed etiam praetor, 
consul, dictator efset potius, quam hoc spectaeulum viderem. 
O dii immortales I fortem, et a vobis judices, <conservandum 
virum! Minime, minime, inquit; immo vero poenas ille debi- 
tas luerit : nos subeamus, si ita necefse est, non debitas. Hic- 
cinevir. patriae natus, usquam nisi in patria morietur, aut, si 
forte, pro patria? hujus vos animi. monumenta retinebitis, cor- 
poris in Italia nullum sepulcrum efse patiemini ? hunc sua quis- 
quam seritentia ex hac urbe expellet, quern omnes, urbes expuL 
sum a v'obis ad se vocabunt ? O terrain illam beatam, quae hunc 
virum exceperit ! banc ingratam,- si ejecerit! miseram, si ami- 
ser-it ! Sed fmis.sit ; heque enim prae lacrymis jam loqui pofsum : 
et hie se ' lacrymis defendi vetat ; vos oro obtestorque, judices, 
ut in sententiis ferendis quod sentictis, id audeatis. Vestram 
virtutem, justitiam^ fideni (mihi credite) is maxime probabit, 
qui m judicibas legendis optimum et sapientifsimum et fortifsi- . 
mum "quern que legit. 



(71) Omnes in me meosque redundant ex fonte illo dolores.J Cicero here 
refers -'to ' the conspiracy of Catiline; the putting whose accomplices to 
death, he says, was the grand source of all his calamities. 



cicero's orations. 

rions, ye soldiers, I appeal in this hour 
of men, and bravest of citizens ! while 
you stand here with anus in your hand 
shall virtue like tins be expelled, e 

^dishonour? Unhap I man ti, 

^lilo, by these recall me to my cou 
not be able to keep you in yours? V 
my children, who look on you as another I 
Quintus, my absent brother, the kind partner of J 
tunes ? that I could not preserve Milo by I 
which he employed in my preservation ? ! 
not preserve him ? a cause approved ot* by all. V 
it but of my power to preserve him ? those' who ga 
the death of Clodius. And who solicited for Mill 
What crime, what horrid viUany was I guilty of, v. 
plots that were conceived Cor our common destru< I 
by my industry traced out, fully discovered, laid open 
you, and crushed at once ? From that copiou all 

the calamities which befall me and mine. Why did ; 
my return from banishment ? Was it that I might see th 
persons who were instrumental in my restoration bd 
tore my face ? Make not, I conjure you, my 
affliction to me, than was my banishment. Tor h< 
think myself truly restored to my country, if those friend 
restored me, are to be torn from me. 

Sect. XXXVIII. By the immortal gods I wish (pardon 
O my country ! for I fear what I shall say. out of api< 
for Milo may be deemed impiety against thee) that Clodius 
only lived, but were praetor; consul, dictator, rather than 
witnefs to such a scene as this. Immortal -gods! how 
man is that, and how worthy of being preserved by you ' 
no means, he cries : the rum" an met with the punishm. 
deserved; and let me, if it must be so, suffer the punishn 
have not deserved. Shall this man then, who was born to 
his country, die any where but in his country? Shall 
at least die in the service of his country? Will tin the 

memorials of his gallant soul, and deny his body a 
Italy ? Will any person give his voice for banishing a man 
this city, whom every city on earth would be pi 
within its wails? Happy the country that shall re H ! un- 

grateful this, if it shall' banish him ! wretched, ii 
him! But I must conclude; my tears will not allow 
ceed, and Milo forbids tears to be employed, in hi 
You, mv lords, I beseech and adjure, that in 
you would dare act as you think. Trust me, 
your justice, your fidelity will more especially I 
by him, who, in his choice of ji 
bravest, the Visest, and the best of m< 

k 2 



O RATIO XIII. 



PRO M. MARCELLO* 



L T*XIUTURNI silentii, Pi C. (') quo eram his temporibns 
jLJ usus,- noli timore aliquo, sed partim dolore, partim verc- 
cundia, fineni hodiernus dies attuht;. idemque initiuKT, quae 
vellein, quccqiie sentirein, meo pristino more dicendi. Tantanv 
eniin nyansuetadi^em, tarn inusitatam inauditamque clementiam, 
rantum in summa potestate reriniiomniimtmodum, tarn denique 
incredibilein sapientiam ac pene divinam tacitus nuilo modo 
pra&terire poi'sum, M. ehim Marcelio vobis y P. C. reique pubh 
reddito, non solum illius, sed meam etiam vocem et auctorita- 
fem, et vobis et reipublicaj conservatam ac restitutam puto, 
Dolebanx euim, P, C. ac vehementer angebar, cum videremy 
virum talem, qui in eadein causa efset, in qua ego fuifsem, non' 
in eadeira efse fortuna : nee mihi pursuadere poteramy nee fas- 
else ducebam, versari me in nostro veteri curriculo, ( 2 ) illo 
teinulo atque imitatore studiomnj, ac laborum meorurn, quasi 
quodaiYi socio a me et cornite distraeto. Ergo et mihi, et 
ineae pristinaD vitas coiisuetudineni, C. Caesar, intei'clusam 



* MaFcus Marcellus was the head of a family, which, for a suecefsion of 
many ages, had made the first figure in Rome; and was himself adorned 
with .all the Virtues that co&ld qualify him to sustain that dignity, which 
lie derived from his noble ancestors. He had formed himself in a parti- 
cular manner for the" bar, where he soon acquired great fame; and, of all 
the orators of his time, seems to have approached the nearest to Cicero* 
himself, m the character of a complete speaker. His manner of speaking 
was elegant, strong, and copious; with a sweetn-efs of voice, and propriety 
of action, that added a grace and lustre to every thing he said. Of all 
the magistrates, he was the fiercest opposer of Csesar's povver, and the most 
active to reduce it: his high spirit and the ancient glory of his house, nTade 
him impatient under the thought of receiving a master ; and when the bat- 
tle of Pharsalia, where he was present on the side of Pompey, seemed at 
hist to have imposed one upon them, he reti-red to Mitylene, the usual re- 
sort of men of learning; there to spend the rest of his days i-n a studious 
retreat, remote from arms, and the hurry of war; and determined not to 
seek any grace from (he conqueror. The senate, however, encouraged by 
the clemency which had been, shown to several of the Pompeian chiefs, 
petitioned Caesar for his pardon, who generously granted their request, 
'hough he stilt suspected that Marcellus remained his enemy. Cicero, 
touched with the generosity ©f this act ot grace, and pleased wfth the 



ORATION XIII. 



FOR M. MARCKLI 



Sect. I. HTMrllS day, conscript fathers, puts an end t; 
JL long silence which I have observed ; nut tin 
any fear* hut partly through grief, partly t! 
puts nie again in ppfsefsioft oi" the happy pi 
my sentiments as they arise, with my usua) freedom, i i 
behold so great humanity, sueli unparalleled and unlu-.. 
jhiency, so much moderation in the midst of such milium. I 
power; in one word, such incredible and ajmostdivirji 
and remain in silence. For by the restoration of M. Mai < 
to you and the state, I please myself with the thoue, 
script fathers, that not only his, but my voice and author: 
secured, and restored to you and the republic. It v . 
of great, of inexprefsible concern to me, conscript lathe: 
find that so eminent a man, who had espoused the same ■ 
with myself, did not partake of the same fortune ; nor could I 
be satisfied, or think it equitable to enter upon pay I 
course, while my rival, the imitator of my pursuits and toi)», 
and as it were my companion and partner, was torn from im. 
You have therefore, Caesar, opened for me the way to in) 
former state of life, and given, as it were, a signal to the 



favour conferred on his friend, exprefseJ his thanks in the foil 
oration; which, though made upon the snot, vet for elegance of i 
vivacity of sentiment,' and politenefs of Compliment, is »U|iei 
thing extant of the kind in all antiquity, li w'M delivered in I 
Home 707, and the 6 1 st of Cicero's age. 

(I) Quo eram his tempcribus usus.] During the civil wai 
pey and Caesar", there was no senate held at Ro 
retired, some to one citv, some to another. A 
deed followed Pompey," with 1 the better sort ol al rank* ; in ll 
was Cicero, who after liis return to Rom. 
marks of favour from Casar, kept Inm 
made no appearance in the senate. 

02) UUuvmvlo dtque imitator* duiiorvm , 
was a constant admirer and imitator of ( - 
peace, and on the same side in war ; so (I I ' 
is the lofs of a companion and partner, m tbei 

nrs of life- ,. . 



510 M. T. CICERON1S ORATIONES. 

aperuisti, ethis omnibus ad bene de omnirepublica sperandum, 
quasi signum aliquod sustulisti. Intellectum est enim mihi qui- 
clem in multis, et maxime in me ipso, sed paullo ante omnibus, 
cum M. Marcellum senatui ppp.uloque Romano et reipublicse 
concefsisti, ( 3 ) commemoratis prsesertim offensionibus, te aucto^ 
ritatem hirjus ordinis, dignitatemque reipublica? tuis v'el dolori- 
bus, vel suspiciohibus anteferre. Ille quidem fructum omnis 
anteactae yitse bodierno die maximum cepit, cum summo con- 
sensu senatus, turn prseterea judicio tuo gravifsimo et maximo ; 
ex quo profecto intelligis, quanta in dato beneficio sit laus, cum 
in accepto tanta sit gloria, Est vero fortunatus ille, cujus ex 
salute npn minor pene ad omnes quam ad ilium ventura sitj lae- 
titia pervenerit. Quod ei quidem merito atque optimo jure 
contigit; quis enim estillo aut Habilitate, aut probitate, autop- 
timarum artium studio, aut innocentia, aut ullo genere laudis 
prsestantior ? 

II. Nullius tantum est flumen ingenii ; nulla dicendi aut scri- 
bendi tanta vis, tanta copia, quae non dicam exornare, sed enar- 
rare, C. Cajsar, res tuas gestas pofsit; tamen hoc affirmo, et 
hoc pace dicam tua, nullam in his efse laudem ampliorem quam 
earn, quam hodiernp die consecutus es. Soleosaepe anteoculos 
ponere, idque libenter crebris usurpare sermonibus, omnes nos- 
trorum imperatorum, omnes exterarum gentium, potentifsimo- 
rumque populorum, omnes clarifsimorum regurri res gestas 
cum tuis nee contentionum magnitudine, ( 4 ) nee numero prce- 
liorum, ( 5 ) nee varietate regionum, nee celeritate, conficiendi, 
nee dilsimihtudme bellorum pofse conferri ; nee vero disjunc- 
tifsimas terras citius cujusquam pafsibus potuifse peragrari, 
quam tujs, non dicam cursibus, sed victoriis lustratae sunt. Quae 
quidem ego nisi tam magna efse fatear ? ut ea vix cujusquam 
mens aut cogitatio capere pofsit, amens sim : sed tamen sunt 

(3) Commemoratis praisertim ojfe}isio7iibus.~\ Caesar, after he had put an 
end to the Gallic war, though his commifsion was near expiring, had no 
thoughts of giving it up ; pretendiug that he could not pofsibly be safe, if. 
he parted with his army, while Pompey held the province of $pain, pro- 
longed to him for five years. The senate, to make him easy, consented to 
let him take the consulship, without coming to sue for it. in person; but 
that not satisfying him, Marceilus, who was then consul, moved them to 
abrogate his command directly, and appoint him a succelsor; arid since 
the war was at an end, to oblige him to disband his troops, and to come 
likewise in person to sue for the consulship, nor to allow the freedom of the 
city to his colonies beyond the Po. This related particularly to a fa- 
vourite colony, which Casar had settled at Comum, at the foot of the 
Alps, with the freedom of the city granted to it by the Vatinian law. All 
the other colonies on that side of the Po, had before obtained from Pom- 
pey's father the rights of Lafium, that is, the freedom of Kome to those 
who had borne an annual magistracy in them: but Marceilus, out of a 
singular enmity to Caesar, would allow no such right to his colony of Co- 
mum f and having caught a certain Comensian magistrate, who was act- 



cicero's oratiws. 
thers of ttome , to entertain the best hope* for th< 
the republic. For when you gave back M Marc, 
senate and people of Rome, especially afl 
fences, you convinced all men of what I h» 
►from your conduct to myself in barticnlar, and > 
that you had sacrificed your resentments and \ 
the authority of this order, and the digDity of the 
unanimous ihtercefsion of the senate, with 
nerous determination in his favour, has this d 
the services of his past life ; whence you mav 
a degree of merit must attend the cohferi 
there is so much glory in receiving it. Happ 
deed, whose safety affords no greater joy to Ini 
mankind! and such is the case of Marcellus, who hid 
serves the fortune that attends him : for who more illustrious 
than he? who more upright? who more fond of usefiil learn- 
ing? who more virtuous ? who pofsefsed of more laud. 
complishments ? 

Sect. II. No flow of genius, no force of eloquent 
of description, is sufficient, Caesar, I will not say to embellish 
but even to recount your exploits : yet this I aiririu, and , 
with deference insist upOn, that from none of them will i 
reap greater glory than from that of this day. It lias often oc- 
curred to me, and I have often declared it with pleasure, that 
none of the achievements of our own commanders, none of 
foreign nations,, none of the most potent people, none of I 
most illustrious monarchs, are worthy to he computed with 
yours, either in regard to the importance of the contests', I 
number of battles, the variety of countries, the celerity 
quest, or the diversity of enterprises. Countries, 
distant from each other, could not have been sooner tr. 
through, I will not say than they have been traversed by j . 
mies, butsubdued by your victories'. These ar< 
so extraordinary, that it were madnefs not to confe 
are almost too great for human conception ; but tin 



ing the citizen at Rome, he ordered bim to be seized and publi 
an indignity, from which all citizens were exempted by law ; I 
man go and show those marks of his citizenship to < 

(4) Nee numero prccliorum.'] We are told by Pliny, tha 

Used to say, bis conquests in Gaul had cost about a million and tv. 
dred thousand lives, if the civil wars arc added to ti 
tious monster must have made greater desolation in the world, ll 
tyrant perhaps that ever lived in it. 

(5) Nee varietate regionum.~\ C;esar had waged' war in Spain, fti 



Gaul, Egypt, Germany, Asia, Africa, and Greece, lie 

pey, at rharsalia; Ptolemy, in Egypt ; Phamaces kh 

•in Pontus; Scipio and Juba, in Africa ; and the sons of romp 



,512 M. T. CICERO^IS OR4TIONES. 

alia majora. Nam bellieas laudes solent quidam extenuare 
verbis, easque detrahere ducibus, cpmmunicare cum militibus, 
ne propriae sint imperatorum ; et certe in armis, militum virtus ■ 
locorum opportunitas, auxilia sociorum, clafses, commeatus 
multam juvant } maximam yero partem quasi suo jure fortuna 
sibi vindicat, et quidquid est prospere gestum, id pene omne 
ducit suum. At vero hujus glorias, C. Caesar, quam es paulo 
ante adeptus, socium habes neminem ; totum hoe quantumcun- 
qite est, quod certe maximum est, totum est, inquam tuum; 
nihil sibi ex ista laude centurio, nihil prifectus, nihil cohors 3 
nihil turma decerpit: quin etiam ilia ipsa rerum hunianarum 
domina fortuna in istius se societatem gloriac non ortert: tibi 
cedit; tuam efse totam, et propriam fatetur; nunquam enim 
temeritas cum sapientiacommiscetur, nee ad consilium casus 
admittitur. 

III. Domuisti gentes immanitate barbaras, multitudine innu- 
merabiles, locis infmitas, omrii copiarum genere abundantes ; sed 
ea tamen vicisti, quae et naturam, et conditionem ut vinci pos- 
gent, habebant ; nulla est enim tanta vis, [tanta copia] qua? nori 
ferro ac viribus debilitari frangique pofsit;: verum animum vin- 
cere, iracundiam cohibere, ' victoriam temperare, adversariuui 
nobilitate, ingenio, virtute praestantem, 4 ,npn modo extpllere ja- 
centem, sed etiam amplificare ejus pristinam dignitatem ; ( 6 ) hsec 
qui faciat, non ego eurft ciim summis viris comparo, sed similli- 
miiffl Deo judico. ltaque, C. Caesar, bellicae tuae laudes celebra- 
buntnr illae quidem non solum nostris^ sed pene omnium gen- 
tium Uteris atque linguis : neque ulla unquam aetas de tuis lauui- 
bus conticescet. Sed tamen ejusmodi res, nescio quomodo, 
etiam dum audiuntur, aut dum leguntur, obstrepi clamore mi- 
litum videntur, et tubarum sono. At vero cum aliquid clementer, 
tnansuete, juste, moderate, sapienter factum, in iracuridia praj- 
sertim, quae est inimica consilid, et in victoria, quae natura in- 
sblens et superba est,' aut audimus, aut legimus; quo studio in- 
cendimur, non modo in gestis rebus, sed etiam in fictis, ut eos 
saepe, quos nunquam vidimus, diligamusr Te vero, quern pra> 
sentem intuemur, cujus mentem sensusque et os cernimus, 
nt, quidquid belli fortuna reliqUum rerpub. fecerrt, id else sal- 
v'u'm velis, quibus laudibus efTeremus ? quibus' studiis proseque- 
rnur? qua benevblentia complectemur ? parietes, medius ficlius, 

(6) H(£C qui faciat^ non ego eum cum summis viris comparo, sed siniili- 
mum Deo judico.'] The high compliments paid to Casar in this oration, 
have given some handle for a charge of insincerity against Cicero. It 
ought to be considered, however, tfiat lie was delivering a speech of tlvuiks^ 
in the name and at the desire of the senate, where his subject naturally re- 
quired the embellishments of Oratory-; besides, it appears from a letter to 
one of Caesar's principal friends, that he entertained no small hopes at this 
time^that Cassar intended to restore the republic; and all bis compliment 
are grounded on this supposition. 



CICFRO S ORA'IK ;, | 5 

attainments even greater than these. 1-or m 

predate military glory, and, lest the conn 

too much, take: part from the officer, am 

soldier. And certainly in war, the bravi 

advantage of si tuation, the aid of aiiic 

are of great importance: and after ail, tqrtUtu 

right, claims the gre;u<. gt shara; and Ivij 

sueeefs, she for the most part ai 

glory, Ca-sar, which you have lately acquired, yon I 

sociate ; how great soever it is, and 

greater, it is ail your own. No 'commander, i. n, no 

troop, no battalion robs you here; nay, even fortune, thi 

defs who presides over human afrairs, claim 

honour ; to you she resigns it, and acknowledges it is en! 

it is absolutely, your own : for rashncls never mingles with 

ilom, nor chance with counsel. 

Sect. III. You have subdued nations fiercely barbarous, im- 
tTiensely numerous, at an infinite distance from each i 
abounding in every thing necefsaiy for war; but these were 
conquests which the nature of things rendered pqfsible. 
ho force is so great, no power so extensive, but is capal 
being reduced by greater force, of being overcome by mo 
tensive power; but he who subdues the mind, wbo supj 
his resentment, who uses victory with moderation, wnp tut 
only raises an ingenious, an illustrious and brave adi 
the honour from which he .was fallen, but heightens and em 
larges his former dignity: he who does this, sutlers by a com- 
parison with the greatest of human characters ; for he resembles 
the Deity himself. Your military praises, Caesar, shall be ccjej. 
brated ; they, I say, shall be celebrated, not only among>i us., 
but in every language, in the annals of every nation, and the 
latest posterity shall proclaim them. The fame of the- 
ploits, however, while we read of them, seems, I know not 
how, to be drowned amidst the shouts of armies, and t!. 
of war ; but when we read or hear of a eompafsionate, a gene- 
rous, a 'humane, a just, a moderate, a prudent act performed 
while in anger, that foe to deliberation, and in the triumph of 
victory, when men are generally proud and insolent ; 
such an ardent affection are we inflamed, that we 
in love with persons whom we never saw ; and this not 
while we contemplate realities, but even while 
pictures of the imagination. But wit'b what gratitud* 
embrace, with what veneration approach, with wte 
shall we cro^ n you, whom we have constat):: 
whose disposition, whose inclination, w 
seems to promise thm < 
hi the late war, shai] be 



514 M. T. CICERONIS GRATIONES. 

(ft. C;csar, utmihi videtur,hujus curiae tibi gratiasagere gestiunt, 
quod brevi tempore futura sit ilia anctoritas in his majorum 
suoru&i, et suis sedibus. 

IV. Equidem ( 7 ) cum C. Marcelli, viri optimi, et commemo- 
rabili pietate [ac virtute] praediti lacrymas modo vobisc&m vi- 
derem ; omnium Marcellorura ineuni pectus memoria effodit : 
fjuibus til etiani mortuis, M. Marcello conservato, dignitatem 
suani reddidisti, nobilifsimamque familiam, jam ad paucos re- 
dactam, pene ab intefita vindicasti. Hunc tu igitur diem ( 8 ) 
tuis maximis et innumerabilibus gratulationibus jure antepones: 
haec enim res nnius est propria C. Caesaris : caters, duce te, 
gestae, niagnoe iilae quidem, sed tamen multo magnoque comi- 
tatu; hujus autem rei tu idemet duxeset comes : quae quidem 
taut! est, ut tropaeis, mbnumentisque tuis [nulla unquam] ailatura 
$it finem setas. ; nihil enim est opere, ant nianu factum, quod 
aliquando non conficiat et consumat vetustas ; at vero haec tua 
justitia, et lenitas animi florescet quotidie magis, ka ut_, quantum 
operibus tuis diuturnitas detrahet, tantum afferat laudibus, Et 
eaeteros quidem omnes victores bellorum civilium jam ante aequi- 
tate et misericord ia viceras, hodierno vero die te ipsum Vicisti. 
Vereor, ut hoc, quod dicam, perinde intelligi auditu pofsit, at r 
que ego ipse cogitans sentio. Ipsam. victoxiam vicifse videris, 
cum ea ipsa, quae iMa erat adepta, victis remisisti ; nam cum 
ipsius victorias conditione jure omnes victi occidifsemus, de- 
mentias tuae judicio conservati sumus ; recte igitur unus invictu-s 
:es, a quo etiam ipsius victorias conditio visque devkta est. 

V. Atque hoc C. Caesaris judicium, P. C. quam late pateat, 
attendite ; omnes enim, qui ad ilia arma fato sumus nescio quo 
reipublicos misero funestoque compulsi, etsi aliqua culp& te- 
nevnur erroris humani, a scelera certe liberati sumus; nam 
cum M. Marcellum, deprecantibus "vobis, reipublicas conserva- 
vit, memet mihi et item reipnblicae, nullo deprecante, reliquos 
amplifsimos viros, et sibi ipsos r et patriae reddidit ; quorum et 
frequentiam et dignitatem hoc ipso in consefsu videtis ': non ille 
bostes induxit in curiam, sed judicavit, a plerisque ignoratiorie 
potius, et falso atque inani metu, quarn cupiditate aut cru- 
delitate bellura efse susceptum ; quo quidem in bello semper de 



CO Cum C. Marcelli, viri optimi, et commemorabili pietate prcediti lacry- 
mas modo vobiscum viderem.~\ This C. Marcellus was consul with L. Len- 
tulus, in the first year of the civil war. He was brother to Marcus Mar- 
cellus, and addrefsed Cssar in his behalf, in a very humble and affectionate 
manner. 

(8) Tuis maximis et innumerabilibus gratulationibus.'] Caesar, on account 
of his succefses in Gaul, had a supplication or public thanksgiving of 
twenty-five days decreed him; an honour which, he himself says, had never 
before been ' granted to any: and when the civil wars were at an end, ac- 
cording to Dio., forty days were decreed to him for the same purpose. 



cicero's orations. 51$ 

ar, the walls of this couu seem with transport to p*] 
grateful acknowledgment? to you ; conscious, 
ere long the authority of our anc 
within them. 

Sect. IV. Indeed when I beheld the teacs whi< 
larly pious, that best of men, C. Marcellus, po 

you, the memory of all the Marcelli struck n 
whose dignity, even after their death, you hav 
preservation of M. Marcellus; and rescued that ilhisl 
now well nigh extinct, from almost total ruin. Ju 
may you prefer the glory of this day to that of your mm 
heroic deeds ; for this is the act of Caesar alone. ( 
are the exploits which have been performed under your cc 
.duct; yet they were performed with great, with powerful 
sistance. In the act of this day you are yourself the conductor, 
yourself the afsistant ; an act so truly great, that tin- 
shall not consume the trophies and monuments it has rear* 
all the works of art and labour must be destroyed I but 

this proof of your justice, and gentleness of disposition, shall 
daily flourish more and more ; so that in proportion as tune 
shall consume the other monuments of your greatnefs, it shall 
heighten the glory of this. You had before risen superior, in 
the virtues of equity and mercy, to every other conqueror 
our civil wars; this day you have risen superior to yourself. 
But what I say, I am afraid, falls infinitely short of what 1 I 
permit me therefore to add, that you seem to have triumphed 
over victory herself, since you have restored to th 
what you had gained by the conquest. For by the right 
arms we might all have been treated as enemies; but your i 
mency saved us: you alone, therefore, are invincible, since ev 
victory is by you stripped of all her power and pro 

Sect. V. And observe, conscript fathers, how widely 

clemency of Caesar extends. All of us, who were di ; 

the war by an unaccountable and destructive fatal';;. 

state, though we are certainly in some degree liftbl 

putation of human infirmity, yet are we evidently acquitu 

guilt. For though he has, ' at your inl 

M. Marcellus to the republic, yet has he, unsolicited, 

to myself and to the state; anil likewise restored, to th 

and to their country, those illustrious men, whose number and 

dignity grace this afsembly : he has not brouj 

within these walls, but generously imagined that ffl 

who opposed him, engaged in the 

and groundlefs fears, than from principles of ambition « 

of cruelty. In that war, indeed, I thought it always advii 



516 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

pace agendum, audiendumque else putavi; semperque dolui ? 
pan modo pacem, sed orationem etiam civium pacem flagitan- 
tinni repudiari. Neque enim ego ilia, nee ulla unquam secutus 
sum antia Ciyiliaj semperque ni'ea con silia pacis et togab socia, 
non belli atqUe armorum tuerunt; hominem sum secutus privato 
Officio, non publico: (9) tantumque apucl me grati anirni fidelis 
laemoria valuit, ut nulla non modo cupiditate, sed ne spe qui- 
dem, pruuens et sciens, tanquam ad interitum ruerum volunta- 
ry urn. Quod quidem uieum consilium menime obscurum fuit; 
nam et in hoc online, integra re, multa de pace dixi; ( IO ) et id 
ipso bello eadem etiam cum capitis mei periculo sensi. Ex quo 
jam nemo erit tain in Justus re'rum animator, qui dubitet, qua? 
Ciusaris voluntas de bello fuerit, cum pacis auctores conservandos 
statim censuent, ceteris fuerit iratior. Atque id minus miruni 
videretur fortafse turn, cum efset incertus exitus, et anceps for- 
tuna belli; qui vero victor pacis auctores diligit, is profecto de^ 
clarat, se maluifse non diniicare, quam vincere. 

VI. Atque hujus quidem rpi M. Marcello sum testis; nostri 
enim sensus, utin pace semper, sic turn etiam in bello congrue- 
bant; quoties ego eum, et quanto cum dolore vidi, cum inso- 
lentiam certorum homiuum, turn etiam ipsius victoriae ferocita- 
tem extimescentem? Quo gratior tua liberalitas, C. Ca?sar, no- 
bis, qui ilia vidimus, debet else; non enim jam causae sunt inter 
se, sed victorias coniparandae. Vidimus tuam victoriam prcelio- 
rum exitu terminatam; gladium Vagina vacuum in urbe non 
vidimus; quos amisimus cives, eos Martis vis perculit, non ira 
yictoriae : ut dubitare debeat nemo, quin nmltos, si fieri polset, 
C. Caesar ab inferis excitaret; quoniam ex eadem acie cbnservat 
quos potest, Altenus vero partis (") nihil amplius dicam, quarn 



(9) Tantumque apud me grati animi fidelis memoria valuit. ~] Though Ci- 
cero certainly preferred the cause of Pornpey to that of Ca?sar, yet his per- 
sonal affection for Pornpey, and his gratitude for favour? received, which 
had ever the greatest weight with him, had no small share in determining 
him to join him. For though he was displeased with Pompey's manage- 
ment of the war, and had no hopes of his succefs; though he knew him 
before to be no politician, and soon perceived him to be no general; yet, 
with all his faults, he could not endure the thought of deserting him. 

(10) Et in ipso bello eadem etiam cum capitis. mei periculo sensi. ~\ Cicero 
was not present at the battle of Pharsalia, nor w r as Cato, who staid behind 
also in the camp at DyrfaCrfurrh, which he commanded with fifteen co- 
horts, when Labienus brought them the news of Pompey's defeat: upon 
•which Cato ottered the command to Cicero, as the superior in dignity ; 
and upon his refusal of it, as Plutarch tells us, young Pompey was so en- 
raged, that he drew his sword, and would have killed him on the spot, if 
Cato had not prevented it. Though this fact is not Trtentioned by Cicero, 
yet it is probable that he refers to if in this pafsage. 

(11.) Nihil amplius dicam, quam id, quod omncs rerebamur, nimis ira- 
cundam, futuravifuifse victor iam.~\ It appears from many of Cicero's let- 
ter?, that he was frequently shocked when he considered with what cruelty 
and effusion of civil blood the succefs even of his own friend? would cef* 



CiVERu 8 ORATK f 

\to hearken to proposals of peace, ami a i 
that not only an accommodation, hut even 
citizens who earnestly impierrd it. was 1 
was I active in these or .any oilier civil i 
'ways been an advocate; tor peai 
finemy to war and bloodshed. I joined JV 
not political principles; and so 
grateful sense of my obligations to h'uu, that not 
any ambition, but even without anv hope, I rusl 
upon evident destruction. My advice icL. 
far from being secret. Before matto r> can; 
stated largely the advantages of peace in thij 
during the war I maintained the same opinion, i 
hazard of my life. Whence none can form so unjo , 
mate of things as to doubt what were the sent hue: 
upon this head, since he immediately resoh'ed to pi , 
who were the advisers of peace, but behaved with un 
ment to the rest. This conduct might not perbap 
surprising, when the event el" the war was uncertain, and . 
tory doubtful; but when he who is victorious caivlx 
of peace, he gives the clearest proof that be would rather q 
have fought, than have conquered. 

Sect. VI. And as to this point, I am an evidence in behalf 
of M. Marcelfus; for our sentiments were always the same, as 
well in war as in peace. How often, and with what < i 
have I seen him trembling at the insolence of some a: 
us, and the inhumanity to which victory might trauap 
them? Hence it. is, Caesar, that we who have neon Watnel 
6f these things, ought to be the more sensible of your genero- 
sity; for we are not now weighing the merits of the cause, but 
the consequences of victory. We have seen your victor 
in the held w here it was won, and have never se id 

drawn within our walls. The: citizens we lost fell in battle, 
not by the insolence of victory ; whence there no 

doubt but that if it were potsible C;vsar would recall 
from the shades, since he now saves all he can from destru 
tion. As to the other party, I shall only add what wc \ 
afraid of, that had they been succefsful, they would have L 



fainly be attended. For Pompey, on all occasions afferted lo 
Sylla, and was often heard to say, Could S'^c'/a do sm 
J do it ? as if determined to make Sylla's victory the pal 
He was in much the same circumstances h: which. that coi 
been; sustaining the cause of the aenate by his arms, and I 
enemy by those who poi'sefced Italy ; and as he flatt ith the 

same good fortune, so he was meditating tin- sum- a, and 

threatening ruin and proscription to . 

6 



513 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

id, quod omries verebamur, nimis iracundam fnturam fuifsd 
victoriam ; quklam enim non modo armatis, sed interdum etiam 
otiosis minabautur: nee, quid quisque sensifset, sed ubi fuiiset, 
cogitandum efse dicebant: ut mihi quidem videantur dii im- 
mortales, etiam si pcrnas a populo Romano ob aliquod delictum 
expetiverunt, qui civile bellum tatitum et tarn luctuosum excita- 
verunt, vel placati jam, vel etiam satiati abquando omnem spem 
salutis ad clementiam victoris et sapientiam contulifse. Qjuare 
gaude tuo isto tarn excellenti bono, et fruere cum fortuna et 
gloria,tum etiam natura et moribus tuis : ex quo quidem maxiinus 
est fructus jucunditasque sapienti ; csetera cum tua recordabere, 
etsi perssepe virtuti, tamen pier unique felicitati tuae gratula- 
bere : de nobis, quos in repub. tecum simul salvos else voluisti, 
quoties cogitabis, toties de maximis tuis beneficiis, toties de 
incredibili liberal itate, toties de singulari sapienti a tua cogita- 
bis: quae non modo summa bona, sed nimirum audebo vel sola 
dicere; tantus est enim splendor in laude vera, tanta in mag- 
nitudine animi et consilii dignitas, ut haec a virtute donata, ce- 
tera a fortuna commodata else videantur. Noli igitur in con- 
seryandis bonis viris defatigari, non cupiditate praesertim, aut 
pravitate aliqua lapsis, sed opinione officii, stulta fortaise, certe 
non improba, et specie qUadam reipublicae: non enim tua ulla 
culpa est, si te aliqui timuerunt; contraque summa laus, quod 
plerique minime timendum fuifse senserunt. 

VII. Nunc vero venio ( I2 ) ad gravifsimam querelam, et atro- 
cifsimam suspicionem tuam ; quae non tibi ipsi magis, quam cum 
omnibus civibus, turn maxime nobis, qui a, te conservati sumus, 
providenda est; quam etsi spero efso ialsarn, nunquam tamen 
verbis extenuabo: tua enim cautio, nostra cautio est ; ut, si in 
alterutro peccandum sit, malim videri nimis timidus, quam pa- 
rum prudens: sedquisnam est^iste. tarn demens? de tuisne? 
tametsi qui magis sunt tui, quam quibus tu salutem insperanti- 
bus reddidisti? an ex eo numero, qui una tecum fuerunt? non 
est credibilis tantus in ullo furor, ut, quo duce omnia summa 
sit adeptus, hujus vitam non anteponat suae. At si tui nihil 



(12) Ad gravifsimam querelam, et airocifci mam suspicionem tuam.'] When 
Marcellus's brother threw himself at the feet of Caesar, and applied for a 
pardon in the most humble and affectionate manner, Caesar complained 
greatly of Marcellus, and said he suspected that he designed to lay snares 
tor him, 



CICT.RO S ORATIo 

outrageous, since some amongst them qoi »nl) l 

who were actually in arms, but sometim ,<{ 

inactive, and publicly declared they would 

man thought, but where he hud been: so that il 

if the immortal gods (though they mai 

tive, this calamitous civil war to punish the lloman 

some aggravated offence) being appeased or 

had at length directed us to hope for safet) ii« 

and compafsion of our conqueror. \ 

amiable quality ; enjoy your tortuno i 

virtue and noble disposition ; hum which the 

highest delight and satisfaction. When 

other illustrious actions of your life, though you will tin 

son to attribute much to your bravery, yet moi 

buted to your good fortune ; but as often as you think 

whom you have reserved to enjoy with yourself tl 

of our country, so often shall be revived in your mind tin 

sing remembrance of your extensive beneficence, of your I 

ing generosity, . and of your unparalleled wisdom ; 

which, I will venture to say, not only constitute the hi 

but the only happinefs of our natures. So distinguished a In I 

is there in deserved applause, so great a dignity in magnaniui. 

and true wisdom, that these seem the gift of virtue, whil 

blefsings are only the temporary loan ot* fortune. Cootfti 

therefore to protect the good ; those especially who fell not 

through ambition or depravity of mind, but erred thro 

imaginary apprehension of their duty, weak peri 

not criminal, and supported by an appearance of patriotism. 

you have been dreaded by any, their fears are not to 

to your account;, on the contrary, it is your highest not; 

most men now perceive there was no foundation ior them. 

Sect.. VII. I now proceed to your heavy cha 
suspicions; suspicions that call not more Ion 
cumspection, than for that of every Roman, but mo 
for ours who are indebted to you tor our security : and 
I hope they are groundlefs, yet I will not, by what I snail n 
say, endeavour to lefsen them. For in your pre con-, 

sists our safety; so that were I to err in either extreme, I would 
rather appear timid than imprudent. But woe 
outrageously desperate ? Is he among your friends? Who 
be more so than those whom, contrary to their own expectatu 
you rescued from ruin? Is he among the number of th 
who accompanied you to the war? It is not to I 
that any of them can be so madly infatuated, as not r 
to his own life, the life of him under whose command 
risen to every thing he could wish for But though you; 



52(f M. T. CtCERQNiS OfcATIONES.' 

cogitant sceieris; cavehdum est, ne quid inimid: qui? on. 
enim qui fuerunt, act sua pertinaeia vitam anuserunt, aut tua 
ini.^ericordia ret inner tint •: ut aut maili supersint de inimis, aut,- j 
qui super! ucrunt, arnidfsiriii siut. Sed tamen, cum in animis 
hominum tanta3 lateb'rssfc sirit; et tanti reccisus, augeamus sane 
susnieionem tuam: sinnrl enim augebimus et diligentiam ; nam 
quis est omnium tam ignarus rerun i,' tarn rudis m repub. tain 
nihil iinquam nee de sua, nee de comnuini salute cogitans, qui 
non inte'Jigat, tua salute contineri sifero? et ex" unius tu'a vitam 
pendere omnium ? Equidem de fee dies 1 noctesque lit debeo, 
cogitans, casus duntaxat humanos et incertos eventus vaietudmis, 
et natural communis rVagilitatem extimeseo*, doieoque cum res- 
publiea immortalis efre debeat, earn in unius mortalis anima 
consistere: si vero ad humanos Casus, incertosque eventus vaie- 
tudinis, seel er is etiam aceedat, insidiarumque eonsensio ; quern 
deum, etiam si capiat, opitu-lari pofse reipubliese credaraus? 

VIII. Omnia sunt excitanda tibi ± C. Caesar,, uni, qu*c jaeere 
sentis, belli ipsius impetus quod neeefse fuit, percnlsa at que pro- 
strata: ( l3 ) constituenda judicia, re^vx?£ai3$a fides, compnmendie- 
libidines, propaganda soboles : omnia, quas dilapsa deiiuxeruut, 
severis legibus vincienda sunt. Non £uit recusanduni in. tanto 
bello civil i tan toque animorum ardore et armorum, quin quas-i 
sata respublica, quicunque belli eventus fuiiset^ muka perderet 
et.Qrnamenta dignitatis, et prggsidia stabiiitatis sua?; multaque 
uterque dux faeeret armatus, quae idem togatus fieri probibuis- 
set: quce quidem nunc tibi omnia belli vutera curanda sunt, 
qnibus prater te mederi nemo potest. Itaque illam tuam prse- 
clarifsimam et sapientilsimain vocem invitus audi.vi, satis te din 
vel naturae vixitse, vel gloria? * satis, si. ita vis, naturse fortafse ; 
addo etiam, si placet, gloria*} at, quod maximum est, patriae 
certe parum. Quare omitte, quaeso, istam doctorum hominum 
in contemnerida morte prudentiam ; noli nostro periculo sa- 
piens else; saepe enim venit ad aures meas, ('*) te idem istud 

(13) Constituenda judicia, revocanda fides, 8<Z,~] Our orator here urges 
Cfesar to restore theKoman constitution ; and this lie. does •with an honest 
freedom, and boldnefs, such as became a true lover of his country, and, at 
the same time, with inimitable aeklrefs. The generosity of the tyrant too 
h worthy of admiration, who, instead of resenting what Cicero said, ap- 
pears to have been phased with it. Butjjow much more worthy of ad- 
miration would his character have been, had he followed the honest coun- 
sel that was. given him, restored the republic, employed his power and in- 
fluence in correcting abuses, and. settling the constitution on a firm and 
solid basis; then would his memory have been glorious indeed, whereas 
now it must foe held in utter abhorrence by every friend to liberty and 
mankind, who judges impartially of his conduct, without being dazzled by 
the glare of his victories, and the empty pomp of his triumphs. 

(14) Te idem, istud nimis crebro dicers satis te tibi vixifse.~] We are in- 
formed by Suetonius, that Caesar gave some of his friends good grounds to 
think, that he did not wish to live any longer, and that he was not grieved 
at iiis enjoying so bad a state of health. 



CICERO'S ORATK 

meditate no ill, the designs of your cnemie* ought I 

against: where are they to be found ? All tho 

such, have either lost their lives by their own 

them to your clemency; so that none of th< 

your enemies arc now alive, or it" tlu-v are, 

come your firmest friends. Yet so impenetra 

of men's hearts, so deep, so dark their designs, tli 

lis to increase your suspicion, that we may at 

Crease your circumspection. For who is 

so unacquainted with the affairs of the 

about his own or the public safety, as not to pen. 

preservation includes his own, and that on your lift 

the life of every Roman ? In truth, while you are day and n 

as you ought to be, the subject of my thought! 

common accidents of life, the precarious enjoyment of hi 

and the weaknefs to which human nature is universally subject, 

and behold with concern this republic, which ought I 

mortal, depending for its existence on the life of one man ; hut 

if the united force of guilt and treason should be added to the 

common accidents of life, and the uncertain enjovinent of 

health, what god, though he was willing, can we depend upon 

to save our country ? 

Sect. VIIL By you alone, Caesar, every thing which you now 
see prostrate and overthrown by the unavoidable shock of war* 
is to be raised to its former state; justice must be re-establi 
public credit retrieved, every inordinate palsion supprefsed, the 
propagation of mankind encouraged, and every irregularity, 
every diisolute practice checked and restrained by the 
of laws. It was not to be expected but that in so calamitous a 
civil war, amidst the rage of faction and the combustion 
the shattered state, whatever was the event of the contest, would 
lose many of its most graceful ornaments, many of its iin^i 
powerful supports ; audit may be presumed that the eomm 
of each party did many things in the hurry of war, vrhii 
Calm of peace, he would have condemned. You d\onv are the 
person who must bind up the wounds which your bleeding - 
try has received from the relentlcfs hand of war ; lor none but 
you can heal them. It wa.^ not without concern, t I 

heard from your mouth, that celebrated, that phili 
that you had lived long enough for the purposes or 
the acquisition of glory. Long enough, if you w ill, for the pur- 
poses of nature; for the acquisition or'glorj 
certainly not for the service of vour country. \Vherefon 
I beseech you, that stoicism which the learned 
death ; oe not a philosopher at I am 

that you continually repeat that sa 
long enough for yourself* This i should grant, it 

i~> l 



M. T. CICKROMS ORATIONe£. 

minis crebro dicere, satis tc tibi vixifse; credo: sed turn icT audi* 
rem, si tibi soli vivcrcs, au't si tibi etiam soli natus efses; nunc, 
oum omnium sal litem civium, eunctamqne rempublicam res tua? 
gosta: oomplexa v smt, tantum abes a p^rfectioue maximorum 
operum, ut i'undamenta, qua cogitas, nondum jeceris. Hie ttf 
modum tua vita, nou salute reipublica?, sed aquitatc aniini de- 
tunes ? (mid, si istud ne gloria:; qu'idem tiKc satis est ? Cujus te" 
efse avidifsimum, quamvis sis sapiens, non negabis; Parumne 
igitur, inquies,gloriam magnam rclinquemus ? immo vero aliis, 
quamvis rmiltis, satis; tibi uni par am; (juidqiieemm est, quam- 
vis anipltun sit, id certe par um est turn,- cum est aliquid amplius, 
Quod si verumttfarum hnmortalium, C. Casar, hie exitus futu- 
rtis fuit, ut, devictis adversariis, rempublicam in eo statu felin- 
quotes in quo nunc est; vide quaso, fire tuadivina virtus admi- 
rationis plus sit habitura quam gloria? : si quidem gloria est illus- 
iris ac pervagata niultorum et magnorum vel in suos, vel in 
patriatn, vel in omnegenus-hominuiii'fama meritorum. 

IX. H«c igifar tibi reliqua pars est : ( I5 j hie restat actus : i ; n hoe 
elaborandum est, tit rempublicam constituas', eaque tu imprimis, 
cum summa tranquillitate et otio, perfruare: turn te, si voles, 
cum et patriae, quod clebes,solveris, et iraturam ipsarn expleveris 
satietate vivendi, satis diu vixifse dicito. Quid est enim omnino 
Iioc ipsum din, in quo est aliquid extremum, qnod cufn venerit, 
omnis volnptas pneterita pro nihilo est, quia postea nulla futura 
sit? quanquarn iste tuns animus mm quam hisangusths,quasna- 
tura nobis ad vivendum dedit contentus fait ? semper rmmortali- 
tatis amore rlagravit. Nee vero bac tua vita dicenda est, qua; 
corpore et spiritu continetur : ilia inquam, ilia vita est tua, 
Cutsar, qu;^ vigebit memoria saculorum omnium, quam posteritas 
alet, quam ipsa seternitas semper tuebitur ; huic tu inservias, 
huic te ostentes oportet : qua? quidem qua? miretur jahipriden* 
multahabot; nunc, etiam qua laudet exspeetat: obstupescent ' 
posteri certe imperia, provincias, Rhenum, Occaimm, Nilum, 
pugnasinimmerabiles, incredibiles victorias, monumeuta, ( ,6 ) mu- 
nera, triumpbos audientes et legentes tuos ; sed nisi hac urbs 
stabilita tuis consiiiis ct iustitutis erit, vagabitur modo nomeri 



(t5) Hie restat actus."] A parage from one of our orator's letters to his 
brother Quinrus, will illustrate this manner of exprefsinn. ' likidte ad 

* extremum, '.wry.? he, 'et oro, et horlor, ut, tanquam poeta 1 boni, et adores 
' industrii solent, sic tu in extrema parte, et conclusione mur^iis, ac nego- 

* tii, tut diligentiisimus sis, ut hie tertius annus imperii tui, tanquam terfma 
'actus, periectifsimus attjuc ornatifsimus fnitse vicleatur.' 

(\6),Alu/iera.'] It was customary for the Roman generals, after obtaining 
a victory, to give such of their soldiers as had distinguished themselves by 
tneir bravery, n congiarivm,' which, among the Romans, was a gen cwl 
!,:vunefor all presents given on that oecasion, vvfeether money, corn, &c- 



CICFRC)'* ORATIOVS. 32. 

' voiirsclf, or were bprtr for yourself alone Bui 

s.-tlcrvul evcr> citfecijr, arid th* 

A "oe nncxion with vonr condui 

having perfected; that rou have n 

Hiat important work you meditate. Will 

life- then by tire ^ooilncls of yum- \rn d 

the happirleis of the state? bin what i!' that should 

feted for the purposes of glorv, which, wi 

must acknowledge to be die leading pal 

I then, say you, leirre behind me aufy an 

of glory? for others it would bo am 

it is inconsiderable : for how great 

itself, it is still but small whom cotnp 

greater. Therefore, if after having con \u 

Uesar, you close the scone of tlvno action-; whu \\ 

you immortal by leaving the state in 

ware, t intreat you, lest your divine virtues do ubi 

the admiration of others, than brighten yo 

true glory consists in the honourable and UlUTersal 

of having done many and important services, either to 

friends, his country, or the whole race of manki. 

Sect. IX. This part of the drama is yet to 
scene is yet to open: you must use your Utmost end. 
settle our constitution, that you may be amor: 
joy the fruits of it, in* the sweets of tranquillity and retirement; 
then, if you please, when you have paid the debt vi 
your country, and when nature is satiated with living, vou 
may declare that you have lived long chough. B 
all, how can even this period be termed long- cnou_. 
must have some end, cancelling- all, past pK 
arrives, because there is none to succeed ? Your soul ha- 
been satisfied with the narrow limits of life, which : 
prescribed us, but has ever glowed with an ardent Ion« 
immortality. Nor can this be called your I: 
in the union of the soul and body; that alone, Ciesar, tl 
say, is your life, which shall be preserved in the mem- 
every succeeding age, shall be cherished by ; , and 

defended by eternity itself. For these you'nv ir, to 

these you must approve yourself : many of your p.i 
-'hall excite their admiration ; something now is wantinj 
shall merit their applause. Future ages will, no doubt, be 
struck with surprise, when they read, and hear of vou\ 
mauds, your province:-, the lUunc, the Oce l 
innumerable battles, your incredible victories, your num. 
trophies, rich donations, and splendid triumphs- but Quid 
city is strengthened bv your counsels, and guarded by your 
your fame indeed will* be scattered throughout 

L 1 I 



524 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATI0N2S. 

tuum longe atque late, scdem quidem stabilem. et domicilium- 
certuui non habebit. Erit inter eos etiam, qui nascentur, sicut 
inter nos fuit, magna difsensio: cum alii laudibus ad ccelum res 
mas gestas efferent : alii fortafse aliquid requirent, idque vel 
maximum, nisi belli eivilis incendium salute patriae restmxeris: 
ut illud fati fuiise videatur, hoe consilii. Servi igitur iis etiam 
judicibus, qui multis post seculis de te judicabunt, et quidem 
baud scio an incorruptius, quam nos; nam et sine amore, et 
sine cupiditate, et rursus sine odio et sine invidia judicabunt. 
Id autem ('7) etiam si tunc ad te, ut quidem falso putant, non 
pertinebit, nuuc certe pertinet, te efse talem, ut tuas laudas ob- 
seuratura nulla unquam sit oblivio^ 

X. Diversa; voluntates civium fuerunt, distractaeque senten- 
tiae ; non eniin consiliis solum et studiis, sed armis etiam et cas- 
tas difsidebamus. Erat autem obscuritas quasdam, erat certamen 
inter clarifsimos duces : multi dubitabant, quid optimum efse ; 
multi, quid sibi expediret; multi quid deceret; nonnulli etiam r 
quid liceret. Perfuncta respublica est hoc misero fatalique belld t 
vicit is, qui non fortuna inflammaret odium suum, sed bonitate 
feniret ; nee qui omnes, quibus irafcus efset, eosdem etiam exsilio^ 
aut morte dignos judicaret: arma ab aliis posita, ab aliis erepta 
sunt. Ingratus est injustusque civis,, qui armorum periculo li- 
beratus, animum tamen retinet armatumr ut etiam ille sit me- 
lior, qui in acie eecidit, qui in causa animam. profudit; qua? 
enim pertinacia est quibusdam, eadem aliis constantia videri 
potest. Sed quia jam omnis fracta difsensio est armis, et ex- 
tincta aequitate victoris ; restat, ut omnes unum velint, qui modo 
habent aliquid non solum sapientiae sed etiam sanitatis. Nisi te, 
C. Caesar, salvo, et in ista sententia, qua cum antea, turn hodie 
vel maxime usus es, manente, salvi else non pofsumus. Quare 
omnes te, qui haec salva efse volumus, et hortamur, et obsecra- 
mus, ut vitae,. ut saluti tuse consulas: omnesque tibi (ut pro aliis 
etiam loquar, quod de me ipse sentio) quoniam subefse aliquid 
pittas, quod cavendum sit, non modo excubias et custodias, sed 
etiam laterum nostrorum oppositus et corporum pollicemur* 

XI. Sed ut ; unde est orsa, in eodem terminetur oratio raea ; 
roaximas tibi gratias agimus, C. Caesar, majores etiam habemus. 



v (17) Etiam si tunc ad te, ut quidam falso putant^ non pertinebit.~\ Accord- 
ing to Sallust, CiEsar did not believe that the souls of men "Were immortal, 
for which Cicero, in this pafsage, gently reprehends him. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 

it will have no fixed residence, no certain place of al, 
Those who shall arise hereafter will, like us, be- dh 
opinions ; while some extol your actions to the 
perhaps will wish that somewhat, nav, a great deal m< 
been done; unlets by restoring liberty to your counti 
'the extinction of civil discord, you show that the i 
work of fate, the other tnat of wisdom. Hav 
fore, to those who will pafs sentence lipqn your conduct m 
ages hence; and whose judgment, it* I mistake not, will be 
more impartial than ours, as it will be uninfluenced I 
ambition, envy, or resentment. And though, as somi 
imagine, you should then be unconcerned at all thi 
4t now concerns you to act such a part as that your gi 
; never be buried in oblivion. 

Sect. X. Various were the 'inclinations of the citizens, and 
their opinions wholly divided ; nor did we differ only in senti- 
ments and wishes, but in arms and in the field. Tie merit 
the cause were dubious, the contest lay betwixt two of our m 
illustrious leaders: many doubted which was in the rt^ht; 
many, what was most convenient for themselves ; main , whai 
was decent; some also, what was lawful. The republic is n 
freed from this fatal, this destructive war, and victory has fa- 
voured him whose resentment is not inflamed by succefs, but 
softened by clemency ; him who has not ad judged, to death or 
banishment, those who were the objects of his displeasure. 
Some have quitted their arms; from others they have been 
forced. Ungrateful and unjust is that .citizen, who being de- 
livered from the danger of war, retains; trie wrathful spirit of a 
warrior; far more amiable is he, who falls in the held, and 
pours, out his life in defence of the. cause he had, espoused ; for 
what some will thiiifc obstinacy, others will call constancy. Now, 
since all civil discord is quashed by your arms, or extinguished 
by your clemency, it remains that ail of us, who have 
share of prudence, or even common understanding, should 
unite in our wishes. We can never be safe, Caesar, unlcls you 
continue so, and retain the same principles which you have, dis- 
covered on other occasions, but particularly on this da v. 
Therefore, all of us who wish the security* of our constitution, 
earnestly desire and intreat you to have a regard to your life 
and safety; and all of us (I now speak for others what are the 
sentiments of my own heart) seeing you apprehend some rea 
to be on your guard, promise not only to protect you bv day 
and night, but offer our own bodies and cur own breasts as the 
shield of your defence. 

Sect. XL But to close all, as J began : great are the thanks, 

Caesar, we now return you; and greater than these shall you 

LI 3 



#66 M. T. CIG&UONIS OKATIO^ES., 

Nam omnes idem scntiunt, quod ex omnium precious et lacry^ 
mis sentire potuisti. ( ,8 ) Sed quia non est stantibus omnibus ne- 
ocise dicere, a me certe dici volunt, cui necefse est quodani- 
modo, et quod volunt, et quod, M. Marcelio a te buic ordini 
populoque Romano et reipublicqp reddi^o, praecipue id a me 
iieii debereintelligo; nam l&tari omnes, non ut de unius solum, 
sed ut do communi omnium salute, sentio : quod au tern fiimma; 
benevolentjas est, qu;ii mea erga ilium omnibus semper nota 
fuit, ut vix C. Marcelio, optima et ainantiisimo .fratri, prater 
cum quidem cederem nemini; cum id soKcitudme, cura, la- 
\iore, tamdiu praestiterim, quamdiu est de iliius salute dubita- 
tum ; certe hoc tempore magnis curis, molestiis, dploribus libe- 
ratus praestare debeo. Itaque, C. Caesar, sic tibi gratias ago, 
ut omnibus me rebus a te non conservatq solum, sed etiam or- 
nato, tamen an tua innumerabilia in me unum merita, quod 
fieri jam ppfse non arb.itrabar, maximus hoc tuo facto cumulus 
accelserit. 



(18) Sed quia non est stantibus omnibus necefse dicere.'] Whenever any se- 
'jiator spoke in the senate, lie rose up from his seat, and stood while he 
was speajdhg; but wheji he ailented only to another's opinion, life cqi^ 
tinuefl sitting,, 



i.Ro\ (JRATIi. 

nercaftcr receive. Our prayers and tears, on tbj 
clear proofs of our being all of one mind ; * 
eejsarythat we should all personally ml- 1 

jotted mc that, part, who am, as It were, im 
to perform it; and I am p< r^u.idtd thai jt is in u 
1191- incumbent upon me, as I am apuoini 
as M. Marceilus b> thfi uiai 
people oT Rome, and to tTTe repiibli 

all rejoice on this occasion, not for fyc b&ppinel man, 

but for the general safety. My menuship for bin) 
v.crsally observed to be scarce 1 

fectiouate brother C. Marceilus, and, except liirw iy by 

none ; and it" by my solicitude, by m\ pare and usw aTied 
to serve him while his preservation was doubtful, J showed this 
so great regard tor him, it is surely a tribute which I or. 
pay in an hour when I am heed from so much an\iet\ , trouble, 
and concern. Therefore, Ca-sar, 1 here return you ih.ni'> 
only for the security of my fortune, and the hoiiom - 
conferred upon me, but also for this generous instance ol kind 
nefs, by which you have crowned those innumcrabk. I 
\\ I thought nothing couid be ;.ddod. 



O RATIO XIV. 



PRO Q^ LIGARIO *. 



I. (^T^TOVUM crimen, C. Caesar, et ante hunc diem inaudi- 

* IN turn propinquus meus ad te Q. Tubero detulit, 
Q. Ligarium in Africa fuifse; id ( z ) C. Pansa, prsestanti vir inge- 
nio, fretus fortafse ea famiiiaritate quae est ei tecum, ausus est 
confiteri. Itaque quo me vertam nescio; paratusenim veneram 
cum tu id neque per te scires, neque audire aliunde potuifses, ut 
ignoratione tufi ad homjnis miseri salutem abuterer. Sed quo T 
mam diligentia inimici investigatum est id, quod latebat, confi- 
dentuni est, ut opinor- prassertim cum meus necefsarivs G. 
Pansa fecerit, ut id jam integrum rion efset : omifsaque contro- 
versy omnis oratio ad miseripordiam tuam conferenda est, qua 
plurinii sunt conservati, cum a te non liberationem culpae, sed 
errti » veniam impetravifsent. Habes igitur, Tubero, quod est 
accusatori maxime optandum, confitentem reum : sed tamen 
ita confitentem, se in ea parte fuifse, qua te, Tubero, qua virum 
prnni laude dignum, patrem tuum. Itaque prius de vestro de- 
licto confiteamini necefse est, quam Ligarii ul'anj culpam repre- 
hendatis. Q. igitur Ligarius, cum ^fsetadhuc nulla belli suspicio, 

* Qpinius Ligarius had borne a considerable command in the African war 
against Caesar. His two brothers, however, had always been on Caesar's side ; 
and being recommended by Pansa, and warmly supported by Cicero, had 
almost prevailed for his pardon. But Quintus Tubero, who had an old 
quarrel with Ligarius, being desirous to obstruct his pardon, and knowing 
Caesar to be particularly exasperated against all those who, through an ob- 
stinate aversion to him, had renewed the war in Africa, accused him, in 
the usual forms, of an uncommon zeal and violence in prosecuting that 
war. Caesar privately encouraged the prosecution, and ordered the cause 
to be tried in the forum, where he sat upon it in person, strongly pre- 
poi'selsed against the criminal, and determined to lay hold on any plausible 
pretence for condemning him: but the pomp and energy of Cicero's elo- 
quence, exerted with all his skill in a cause which he had much at hea"rt, is 
said by Plutarch to have had such a wonderful effect, that it not only 
made C>sar tremble, but what is still more extraordinary, got the better 
of all his prejudices, and extorted a pardon from him against his will. 
Whatever truth there may be in this story, which rests entirely upon the 
authority of Plutarch, (who does not appear to have copied it from any 
earlier historian, but to have received it Only from common tradition), the 
art and addrefs displayed in the oration cannot be sufficiently admired* 
It was delivered in thejear of Rome 707, of Cicero's age 61. 



I I ■ ■ ■ 

ORATION XIV. 



FOR Q^LIGARIUS. 



Sect. I. A NEW charge, Caesar, and till this day unheard <»(*, 
Xjl my kinsmau Quint us Tubero has laid before yo», 

jiamely, that Quintus Ligariua was in Africa : and < 

person of the greatest abilities, relying perhaps on 

has in your friendship, has ventured to own it. I ! 

therefore, I know not: for I had come prepared, aa you • 1 

riot pofsibly know this of yourself, nor learn it from 

person, to have taken advantage of your iguoia 

spect, in order to save an unfortunate man ; hut as toil 

discovered by the diligence of our adversary, we had l»- 

it, I think ; especially as my good friend C. Pansa I 

matters, that it cannot now be remedied: and omitti 

pate upon the matter, we must addicts ourselves entin 

Clemency, by which numbers have been preserved, obtaining 

at your hands, not absolution from their crimes, bui pardon 

for their error. You have then, Tubero, what is most to be 

wished for by a prosecutor, the person accused pleadi 

but pleading that you, Tubero, and your father, a man worthy 

of the highest praises, acted the same part tor which 

accused :°you are under a nccefsity of confefsing your 

crimes, therefore, before you can impeach Liganus. Qnintuj 

Uranus, then, when as yet. there was not the least su 

a war, set out for Africa with Cams Considius, m quality ol 

tenant; in which station he so behaved himseh botn towards 



(1) Novum crimen.-] It is obvious to observe what a fine im* 
through the beginning of this oration. 

(2) C.Pansa, prestauti viriugenM This was C.V.bius Pansa,^ 
consul with Hirtfus, in the year of Rome 7 .0. He «b. *ylousl 

to C*sar, served him in all his wars with iihgii ar a flee ion an 
but being naturally of a humane an< compafs.onate ■ >V > 
with the miseries of the opprefsed Pompeians and, by his mler 
many of them to the city and their estates, which rendered him ex.. 
popular. 

3 



530 M. T. CICEROKIS ORATIONES. 

legatus in Africani cum proconsule C. Consiclio profectus est : 
qua in iegatione et civibus et sociis ita se probavit, ut decedens 
Considius provincia satisf acere homin ibus non pofset, si (juein T 
quam alhim provincial jrrafecifset. Itaque Q. Ligarius, cum 
diu recusans nihil pmfecifset, proyiiaciam.accepit invitus : cui 
src praefuit in pace, ut et civibus et sociis gratifsima efset ejus 
integritas et fides. Belhun subito exarsit : (mod, qui erant in 
Africa, ante audierunt geri, quam parari : quo audito, partim 
cupiditate inconsiderata, partim ofco quodam timore, primo 
salutis, post etiam studii sui quairebant aliquem ducem : cum 
Ligarius' domum spectaus, et ad suos redire cupicns, nuilo se 
implicari negotio pafsus est. ( 3 ) Interim P. Attius Varus, qui 
praetor Africam obtinuerat, Uticam venit : ad eum statim con- 
cursnm est ; atque ille non mediocri cupiditate arripuit impe- 
i jiim ; si illud imperium efse potuit, quod ad privatum, clamore 
multitudinis imperita?, nullo publico consilio deferebatur. Ita- 
que Ligarius, quiomne tale negetium cuperet effugere, paulluni 
adventu Van conquievit. - 

II. Adliuc, C. Caesar, Q, Ligarius pinni culpa vacat: domo est 
egrefsus, non modo nullum ad bellum, sed ne ad minimam qui- 
dem suspicionem belli: legatus in pace profectus, in provincia 
pacatifsima ita se gefsit, ut ei pacem efse expediret. Profeetio 
certe animuui tuum non debet oifendere : num igitur remansio f 
multo minus; nam profeetio voluntatem habuit non lurpcm, re- 
mansio etiam necefsitatem honestam. Ergo ha-c duo temporaca- 
rent crirnine: unum, cum est legatus profectus; alterum, cum 
cfllagitatus a provincia, propositus Africa? est. Tertium est 
tempus, quo post adventum Vari in Africa restitit; quod si est 
criminosum, necefsitatis crimen est, non voluntatis. An ille si 
potuifset illinc ullo modo evadere, Uticoe potius quam Romas ; 
cum P, x\ttio, quam eum concordifsimis fratribus ; cum alienis 
else, quam cum suis maluifset ? cum ipsa legatio plena desiderii 
ac solicitudinis fuifset, ■(*■) propter incredibilem quendam fra- 
•triim amorem, hie aequo animo else potuit, belli disddio dis- 
traetus a fratribus? Nullum igitur babes, Casar, adhuc in 
Q. Ligario signum aliens) a te voluntatis; cujus ego causam ani~ 
madverte, quieso, qua, fide defendam,cum prodo meam. Ocle- 

(3} Interim. P. Attius Varus. ~\ This Varus was the first who seized Africa 
on the part of the republic, and, being supported by all the force of king 
Juba, Poinpey's fast friend, reduced the whole province to his obedience. 
But, being defeated by Caesar, he fled with Sex. Pompeius and Labienus 
into Spain, and was killed in the battle of Munda. 

(4) Propter incredibilem quendam Jratrum amorem.'] Cicero, as appears 
by several of his orations, took frequent occasion to move the pafsions by 
celebrating the private virtues of those whose cause he pleaded. The de- 
licate manner in which he generally practised this art, gives us an high 
idea of his abilities, and shows how well he was acquainted with the hi*- 
»l3n:lieaft/-ancl the methods of touching it. s 

6 



ClCl.kgs ©RATIONS. 5^i 

pur countrymen and allies, that Considius, al 

could by no means have patrafied tl 

'the government pf the province to ail) 

Ligarius, theruiorj;, having long decliri 

tered upon his charge with reluct. 

nistnuaon in peace, tluit his in teg 

ile aval him botli to our countrvmi-u an 

blazed out, which those in Africa heard w a i . 

before they received intelligence that any p 

towards it. Upon the news of this, partly bom 

tiality, partly 'from a blind fear, they looked om for a U 

first to protect them, afterwards to favour their i] 

All this time, Ligarius, turning bis eyes towa 

Country, and being desirous of returning ti 

suffer himself to be involved in any public bu 

In the mean time, Publius Attius Varus, who, 

pbtained Africa for his province, came to Utica. Tq hioi evu 

body immediately ran, and he with no small cv 

command upon himself, if that ca^i be called a command v I 

was conferred upon a private man by an unthinking ma 

not by anv T public decree. Accordingly Ligarius, who 

sirous of avoiding all businefs of that kind, upon the arrival 

Varus, gained a little respite. 

Sect. II. Hitherto, Caius Grsar, Quintu free 

from reproach. He went from home, not only to no H 
not even with the least suspicion of a war; he went as lieu 
nant in a time of peace, and behaved in such a 
very peaceable province, that he had reason to wish for 
continuance of peace. His departure surely ought not 
you offence: could then bis stay there? certainly far k 
his departure argued no dishonourable views, and his M 
occasioned by a laudable necefsity. During tl 
therefore, he is free from reproach; when he depa 
tenant, and when be was set over Africa, at the s< n or 

the Avholc province. There is a third period, i 
wben he staid in Africa, after the arrival or Van:.-. It I 
criminal, it was owing to necefsity, not to choice. \\ ould 
if he could, 'by any means, have escaped lv 
chosen to stay at Utica, rather than at Uome ; with l J 
Attius, rather than with the most affectionate bf 
with strangers, rather than with his own km. 
vernment had been full of trouble and an 
the incredible affection he bore to has brothers, could he 
in his mind when torn from them bv tae turau4l 
Hitherto, Cesar, you have not the least indication, in Qun 
Li"-arius, of his disalfection to vou; ithose cause, i 
what zeal I defend, when T thereby betray my own 
clemency ! worthy to be extolled, to be pflpdauuc 



£3* M. T. CICERONK OB.ATIONES. 

inentiam admirabilem, atque omni laude, praedicatione, Uteris* 
uionumentisque decorandam! M. Cicero -apud te defendit, 
alium in ea voiuntate non luifse, in qu& se ipsum cohntetur-fuifse ; 
nee tuats tacitas cogitationes extimescit; nee, quid tibi de all© 
audienti de feipso occurrat, reformidat. 

III. Videquam non reform-idem : vide quanta lux liberalitatis 
iCt sapientke tua) nithi apud te dicenti oboriatur; quantum po- 
•tero, voce contendam, ' ut hoc populus Romanus exaudiat. 
ttuscepto bello, Qesar, gesto etiain ex magna parte, nulla vi 
coacttis, judicio meo ac voluntiite ad ea arma profectus sum, 
qua; erant sumpta contra te. Apud quern igitur hoc dico ? 
•nempe aputl eum, qui cmn hoc sciret, tamen me, afitequam 
•vidit, reipublie-B reddidit: qui ad me ex iEgypto literas,misit, 
ut efsera idem qui fuifsem : (*) qui cum ipse imperator in totp 
imperio populi Roinani unus efset, efse me alterum pafsus est:: 
;a (}uo, hoc ipsoC P<susa mini nuntium preferente, concefsos 
fasces iaureatos tenui, quoad tenendos putavi: qui mini turn 
^temque se salutenr putavit reddere^ si earn nullis spoliatam or- 
siamerrtis ledderet. Vide, quaeso, Tubero, ut. qui de meo 
iaeto non dubitem dicere, de Ligarii non audeam. connteri. 
Atque ha~;c pro'pterea de me dixi, ut mihi Tubero, cum de se 
•eadem dieerem, ignosceret ; cujus ego industriae gloriaeque 
faveo, vel propter propinquam cognationem, vei quod ejus 
ingenio studiisque delector, yel quod laudem. adolescentis 
propinqm existimo etiam ad meum aiiquem Jructum re- 
*ltmdarev Sed hoc quaro, quis putet else crimen, fuifse in 
Africa Ltgariura? nempe is, qui et ipse in Africa : efse vo= 
luit, et prohibitum se a Ligario queritur, et N certe contra 
ipsum Caesarem est congrefsus .armatus. '.-(*) Quid enim, 

(5) Qui, cum ipse imperator in toto imperio populi Romani Units efset? 
-efse me alteram pafsus est,~\ In the consulship of Servius Sulpicius, and 
Marcus M-arcellus, Cicero was sent proconsul into Cilicia, where he de- 
feated the Armenians, and toyk the city of Eindenifeus: .he waged war 
:too against the robbers who infested mount Amanus, on whichaccount.he 
■was saluted general by the soldiers. The following year, when L. Paulus 
-and C. Marcel I us were consuls, he returned from his province to Italy, 
and came near to Home: by this time, a civil war had arisen under the 
consulate of Lentulus and Marcellus. But because he did not actually 
center the city, he kept his office, and remained proconsul ; for the gover- 
nors of provinces, as we learn from Ulpian, retained their office no longer 
sdhan tl*ey entered Rome. We have in the ninth book of the epistles to 
Alticus, an epistle wrote to Cicero, in the time of the civil war, in which 
Balbus addrefs%s Cicero thus, L. Cor7ielius Balbus, Marco Tullio Cicerom 
galulem; andanother in the tenth book, where Ca±sar addrefces him thus : 
Ccesar imperator, 'Marco'Tullio Ciceroni imperatori saluiem. 

(Gy-Quid enirn, Tubero, iuus Me districtm in acie Pharsalica gladius agebat.~\ 
This pafsage is supposed to have raised the strongest emotions in Caesar's 
4>reast, and even to have made him tremble. Accordingly the story has 
?often been alleged in proof of the power of ancient eloquence; but the fact 
seems to be justly questionable. For Cicero's total silence in regard to it, 
seems to furnish a very strong presumptive argument to destroy the credit 
■>;f It; it being altogether improbable, as the ingenius Mr. Melinoth justly 



CICKRO'S ORATIONS. 

lebrated by public records and m 
before you, that another pei 
Wards you, which he.conlelses he bim 
your secret thoughts, or tear unv retii 
himself, while you hear him plead 

Sect. III. Sec how undaunted! 1 am 
your wisdom and' generosity dart upon me, whifc 
ing before you. " f will raise my vbu 
all Home may hear me. After the war 
and considerably advanced, without any compulsion, fr< 
and inclination, I joined that party which took 
Before whom do I say this r even before hiu 
knew it, yet ere he saw me, restored me safe to im 
who sent letters to me from Egypt, permitting me to 
in the same character I had formerly sustained ; v ho, win 
was the only person throughout the whole empire of J; 
had the title of emperor, allowed me to share the sam< 
from whom, this very CaiusPansa bringing me the m 
held the laureled fasces as long as 1 thought proper; who, in * 
word, thought he then only gave me hie, when h 
stripped of none of its ornaments. Observe, Tubero, I be- 
seech you, how I, that make no scruple of confefsing whal 
done by myself, yet dare not plead guilty to what was done 
by . Ligarius : and I mentioned the^e things of myself, that 
Tubero may forgive me when I say the same of him. 
one whose application and merit I am fond of, both 01 
count of our near relation, the pleasure I receive from his 
genius and studies, and because 1 think the reputation 
young kinsman redounds in. some measure to my own honour. 
But I desire to know one thing, Who thinks it a crime in 
Ligarius, that he was in Africa? the very man who wa 
sirous of being there himself; who complains that he was hin- 
dered by Ligarius; and who is well known to have . 
in arms against Caesar. For what, Tubero, did that naked s 



^observes, that a man of Cicero's character should have omitted any op- 
portunity of displaying a circumstance so exceedingly to t . of hi» 
elocution. Besides this, it is very observable, that N aleriuj Maximuf 
has a chapter e?cprefsly to show the force of eloquence, and who me 
a particular instance of this kind with regard to Caesar himself, tak< • not the 
least notice of the fact in question : and it is not to be supposed that be would 
have omitted it, had he known it to be true, especially as it afforded him a 
much stronger instance for his purpose, than any Jit- has thought proper 
to enumerate. The only ancient writer who relates the - larch, 
and he introduces it with a Ksytraih, which seems to imply that he did 
jiotcopy it from any earlier historian, but received it only fro 
tradition. Isow such a report, as Mr. Melmoth 
arisen from Caesar's having been seized, during the course ol 
with one of his usual epileptic fits, which were attended with that 1 
of colour, and trembling of the nerves, that Plutarch asci 
of Cicero's rhetoric. And that this i* ail that there was of I 



«"J4 M. T. CtOE'RONlS O&ATIONES; 

Tubero, tuns i!1e districtus in aeie Pharsalica gladius a^ebat ? 
cujus latus i'lle imicro petebal r qui sensus erat armoruin tuorum ? 
qrtaft tua mens? ocu'h? inarms? ardor animi ? quid cupiebas I 
quid opnibas? Ninris urgeo : corn-mover i videtmr adolescens ; ad 
me revertar; ( 7 ) iisclem m arm is i'ui. 

fV. Quid autcm aliud eginms, Tubero, nisi ut, quod hie po- 
'test, nos pofsemus? Quorum igitur impunitas, Cesar, tua> cle~ 
mentire laus est, corum ipsonnn ad cradelitatem te acuet ora- 
tio? Atque in hac causa nannihil equidem, Tubero, etiam tuam, 
sed nmttd rnagis patris tui prudentiam desidero : quod homo 
cum ingenio, turn 1 etiam doctrina cxcellens, genus hoe causa? 
quod etset, Ron vjderit ; nam si vidii'set, quovis profeeto., qtiam 
isto modo a te agi maluifset. Arguis fatentem: non est satis; 
accusas eum qui eau'sam habet, aut, ut ego dico; meiidrenx" 
•quamtu; aut, ut tu vis, parem. Ifec non modo roirabilia 
sunt, sed prodigh simile est; quod dicam. Non habet earn vim 
ista accusatio, ut Q. Ligarius condemnetur, sed ut necetur: hoc 
egit civis Romauus ante to' nemo; ex terni isti mores usque ad 
sanguineni incitare solent odium aut levium Grsricorum, aut im- 
iijanium barbarorum. Nam quid al-iud agis? ut Horn* ne sit? 
ut damo carea.t ? ne eum optimis fYatribus, ne cum hoc T. Broe- 
cho avunculo suo, ne cum ejus filio consobrino suo, ne nobis- 
cii m vivat? ne sit in patria ? num est? mim potest magis carere 
his omnibus, quam caret? Italia prohibetur, exsuiat. Non tu 
ergo hurtc patrici privare, qua caret, sed vita, vis, At istud ne: 
apud'eum quidem dictatorem, ( 8 ) qui omnes, quos oderat, mor- 
te multabat", quisqtiani egit isto modo : ipse jubebat occidi, nullo 
postulante • pra:niiis etiam invitabat; quae tamen crudelitas ab 
hoc eodem aliquot aunis post, quern tu nunc crudelem else \i± f 
vindicata est, 

V. Egcj vero istud non postulo, inquies ; ita luehereule existi- 
mo,-Tubero: novi enim te, novi patremtuum, novi domum, no- 
ttienque vestrum; studia denique generis, ac iamiria? vestra?, vir- 
tutls, humanitatis, doctrinal plurimarum artium atque Optimaru-m,- 
nuta sunt mihi omnia: itaque certo scio, vos non petere sangui- 



casCj is rendered probable by the testimony of Suetonius, who informs us, ', 
that, C;rsar was twice seized with these tits, when he was engaged in h. 
cial affairs. 

(7) Jisdem in armisfiti.~] Cicero was not present at the battle of Phar- 
salja, but was hit behind at Dyrrhachiuny, much out of humour, as w'efi 
as out of, order: his. discontent to see all -things going "WEfcmg on that side, 
and contrary to his. advice, had brought upon him an ill habit of body, an^l 
weak state of health, which made him decline all public comUKind. 

(8)' Q/ri onwes, quos oderat, morie mitltabat.~\ Our orator here pays a fmr 
compliment to 'Caesar, who, though he was a dictator,- always cxpre- 
the utmost abhorrence of Rylla's cruelty. Sylla not onlv* exercised the 
most infamous cruelty that had .ever been practised m cold blood in any 
city, by the detestable method of a proscription', of which he was the first 
author and inventor; but, as Plutarch informs us ; set- a reward oftwo t«£ 



rif yours do in the battle o\ 

|K)iut aimed at* what w;i, then 

your spirit h your t 

what did you (Icmi 

much j he seems dtetnfbei* | , 

bote arms on the sarin 

Sect. IV. But what tflsej Tuberc did wn 
power of doing what. C«sar now can cl 
then, whose safety, Ca-sar. fe'owiftg to yo 
discourses stir you up to cruelty 1 and really m 
bero, I think you have been wan! 
much more your fatlier, who, thortgfe a -inatv of < 
learning and abilities, could not perceive th< i 
seeutioh ; for it' he had, he would iia\ ,- 
managed in any other manner than this. You.h 
pleads guilty : nor is this all ; yoi|-'itNpea«l] ow 
either, as I say, better than yours ; or; as | 
have it, as good. What I mention is not on! . 
perfectly astonishing ; the tendency of fchi 
not that Quintus Ligarius should be found gni 
should be put to death; a tiling which no citi 
for-e you, ever did. These are exotic maniu 
Greeks, or savage barbarians, used to push I 
even to blood ; and what else are yon now dr\n^ : ■ 
sire that Ligarius should be driven from Home? that he should 
be banished from his own house, from li. 
from Titus Brocchus here, his uncle, his sou, and mc r 
should be deprived of his country ' Can he enjo 
comforts than he has at present ? he is forbid knh , he 
banishment. Your intent then is, rtc 
country, .but of life. A prosecution like this no man »•■ 
ried on, not even before that dictator who condemned all he 
hated, to die; a dictator who orcie "I persons to he put 
death without any impeachment, and whoever! invited nnnv 
by Te wards: a cruelty which was i by 

the very man you would now persuade to be 

Sect. V. But I do not desire this, you will say; in! 
bero, I think you dp not. For I know you, 1 knew yoar I 
I know your family and descent; the manners, i . of 

your whole race, their virtue, their humanity, their skill in 
even the most useful arts, are all well known to me. 1 h 
1 am certain vou do not aim at blood: but you do n< I 



lents upon the head of every man who was proscribed. ( 

rhuch in abhorrence, that he prosecuted evcrj . who 

had touched any part of the public moric) for killta 

proscribed. 



,536 to. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES* 

nem : sed parum attenditis ; res enim eo spectat, ut ea pcer/i 
in qua adhuc Q. Ligarius sit, non videamini efse contenti: quae 
est igitur alia, prater mortem ? si enim in exsilio est, sicuti est ; 
quid amplius postulates ? an, ne ignorscatur? hoc vero multo 
acerbius, multoque est gravius ; quod nos domi petimus preci- 
bus et lacrymis, prostrati ad pedes, non tani nostras causae fiden- 
tes, quam hujus humanitati, id ne impetremus pugnabis? et in 
nostrum fletum irrumpes ? et nos jacentes ad pedes supplicmn 
voce prohibebis ? Si, cum hoc domi faceremus, quod et feci- 
mus, et, ut spero, non frustra fecimus, tu derepente irrupifses, 
et clamare ceepifses, C. CiESAR, cave credas, cave ignofcas, 
cavete fratrum pro fratris salute obsecrantium misereat ; nonne 
omnem humanitatem exuifses? quanto hoc durius, quod nos do- 
mi petimus, id a, te in foro oppugnari? et in tali miseria multo- 
rum, perfugium misericordiae tollereKWDicam plane, C.Caesar, 
quod sentio: si in hac tanta tua fortuna lenitas tanta non efset^ 
quantum tu per te, per te inquam, obtines (intelligo quid lo- 
quar) acerbifsimo luctu redundaret ista victoria; quam multi 
enim efsent de victoribus qui te crudelem efse vellent, cum etiam 
de victis reperiantur ? quam multi, qui, cum a te nemim ignosci 
vellent, impedirent clementiam tuam, cum etiam ii, quibus ipse 
ignovisti, nolint te in alios efse misericordem ? Quod si probare 
Caesari pofsemus, in Africa Ligarium omnino non fuifse : si ho- 
nesto et misericordi mendacio saluti civis calamitosi consultum 
efse vellemus: tamen hominis non efset, in tanto discrimine et 
periculo civis, refellere et coarguere nostrum mendaeium : et si 
efset alicujus, ejus certe non efset, qui in eadem causa et for- 
tuna. fuifset. Sed tamen aliud est errare Caesarem nolle, aliud 
nolle misereri: turn diceres, Cave, Caesar, credas; fuit in Africa 
Ligarius; tiilit arma contra te: nunc quid dicis? Cave ignoscas. 
Haec nee hominis, nee ad hominem vox est: qua qui apud te,- 
C. Caesar, utetur, suam citius abjiciet humanitatem, quam ex* 
torquebit tuam. 

"VI. Ac primus aditus, et postulatio Tuberonis haec, ut opi- 
iior, fuit, velle se de Q.. Ligarii scelere dicere: non dubito, 
quin admiratus sis, vel quod de nullo alio quisquam, vel quod 
is qui in eadem causa fuifset, vel quidnam novi facinoris adfer- 
ret. Scelus tu iliud vocas, Tubero? cur? isto enim nomine' 
ilia adhuc causa caruit; alii err orem appellant^ alii timorem ; 



CICERO S ORATI01 

For it appears, that you are d 
which Quintus Ligarius now suffers. What 
but death ? for if he is in banishment^ as Ik- actual!} 
tnore can you require } that i 
is still more crtlcl, still mo Will j 

to prevent our obtaining what \ 
by prostrating- ourselves at Caesar's feet, 
our own cause, as on his clemency ? ivfll you break m 
our tears? will you strive to frustrate th< Inch, 

prostrate before him, we poor out vi ith the \ 
if, while avc are doing this at Csesar's house, which we have 
done, and, 1 hope, not ineffectually, you had suddenly In 
upon us, and cried out, Beware, Caesar, how you pardon 
v. are how 3-011 are moved with compafsion towards thes 
thers, imploring- a brother's life at your hands ; would you DOC 
have divested yourself of all humanity? how much more cruel 
then is it, for you now to oppose that in the forum, whit 
implored at his house? and, m such a general calamit 
away all refuge for mercy ? I will deliver my sentiment ' 
■without disguise: if your own clemency were not 
as your fortune, your own, 1 say, for I know what 1 
your victory would occasion the deepest sorrow. 
many of the victorious party would persuade you t< 
when even the conquered do? how many of those wh< 
against your pardoning any, would prevent your clerai 
when those who have been pardoned themselves are unwilling 
you should be merciful to others? J Jut if we could 1. 
pear to Caesar, that Ligarius actually "was not in Africa ; if we 
were even desirous of consulting the safety of an unfortunate 
citizen, by a laudable and good-natured falsehood , it would be 
.inhuman, when the life of a Roman is in such imminent (I 
to convict us of falsehood: and if any man was to ad such a 
part, it. ought not surely to be that man, who wa- 
in the same cause and fortune. But it is one thin-- to w 
not to err ; another to wish him not to be merciful. 
would say, Beware, Cg?sar, how you believe: Ligarius 1 
Africa; he bore arms against yon. But now v. 
my ? Beware how you pardon him. Is this tl 
one man to another? whoever, Ceosar, shall addreJ 
this manner, will sooner lay aside his own humanity, I 
yum out of yours. 

Sect. VI. But the opening and preliminary of ! 
pleading, I think, was this, that he intend* 
•guilt of Quintus Ligarius. I question not bu 
to know, either why nobody else had ever been chai 
that crime, or that a man should carry on such a pr< 

who had been engaged in I 

I m 



53S M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

qui durius, spem, cupiditatem, odium, pertinaciam : qui gra- 
vifsime, temeritatem : scelus, praetcr te, adhuc nemo. Ac mihi 
qnidem, si proprium et veraxn nomen nostril mali quaeratur, fa- 
talis qusedam calamifcas ineidifse videtur,etimprovidashominunx 
mentes oceupavifse : ut nemo mirari debeat, Immana consilia 
divinii necefsitate else superata- Liceat efse miseros, quan- 
qimn* hoc victore efse non pofsumus: sed non loquor de nobis £ 
de illis loquor, qui occiderunt : fuerint cupidi, fuerint irati, 
fuerint pertinaces : sceleris vero crimine, furoris, parrieidii li- 
ceat Gh. Pompeio mortuo, liceat rnultis aliis carere. Quando 
lioc quisquam ex te, Csesar audivit ? aut tua quid aliu'd arma 
vohierant, (.*) nisi a te contumeliam propulsare ? quid egit tuus 
ille invictus exercitus, nisi ut suum jus tueretur, et dignitatem 
tuam r quid? ( ir ) tu cum pacem eise cupiebas, id-ne agebas* 
ut tibi cum sceleratis, an ut cum bonis cjvibus eonveniret ? 
Mihi verd, Caesar, tua in me maxime merita tanta certe non vi- 
derentur, si me ut*sceleratum a te conservatum putarem. Quo- 
mod o autem tu de republica bene meritus efses, si tot sceleratos 
incolumi dignitate efse voluifsesr Seeefsionem tu illam existi- 
mavisti, Caesar, initio,, non bellum : non hostile odium, sed 
civile difsidium, utrisque cupientihus rempub. salvam sed partira 
consiliis, partim studiis a communi utilitate aberrantibus* Prin- 
eipum dignitas erat pene par ; ( M ) non par fortafse eorum, qui 
sequebantur : causa turn dubia, quod erat aliquid in utraque 
parte, quod probari pofset : nunc melior certe ea judicanda est, 
quam etiam dii adjuverunt ; cognita vero dementia tua, quis 
non earn victoriam probet, in qua occiderit nemo, nisi ar- 
matus ? 

VII. Sed ut omittam Comraunem eausam, veniamus ad no- 
stram. Utrum tandem existimasfaciiius fuifse, Tubero, Ligarium 
ex Africa exire, an vos in Africam non venire ? Poteramus-ne, 
inquieSyCumsenatuscensnifset? si me consulis r nullomodo ;sedta- 
menLigariumsenatusidem legaverat. Atque ille eo tempore paruit, 
cum parere senatui necefse erat : vos tunc paruistis, cum paruit 



(9) Niri ate contumeliam propulsare.'] Caesar alleges, in the first book of 
his Commentaries, that he had been ignomrniously treated in three dif- 
ferent respects, First, when he had the administration of Gaul entrusted 
to him for the space of ten years, a succefsor was appointed to him before 
that time was expired. Secondly, when he left Gaul, and applied for the 
consulate, it was denied to him. Thirdly, when the honour of a triumph, 
in consequence of a victory he had gained, was refused him, the senate de- 
sired he should give an account of his management. 

(10) Tu cum pacem efse cupiebas.'] Csesar all along affected to be desirous 
of an accommodation, and endeavoured particularly to persuade Cicero* 
that he had no other view than to secure himself from the insults of his 
enemies, and yield the first rank in the state to Pompey ; but it seems 
very evident that all this was mere pretence, and that he had no real thoughts 
of an accommodation. 

(1 1) Non parjortafse eorum qui sequebantur."] Cicero here gives the pre- 
ference, in point of dignity, to the Pompeian party; and indeed with 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

he would urge. Do you, Tubero, call it a a 
that cause has hitherto been In uch an 

Some call it an error, some fear? those who w 

what severe, give it the name of hope, ambition 
liacy ; those who are mo.t si 
the only one who has ever called it a < 
afsigo a just and proper name to our misfoi 
calamity appears to ine to have seized and tak 
the improvident minds of men: insomuch that n 
be surprised that human counsels have been b 
necefsity. Let us be permitted to bo wretched, t 1 . 
such a conqueror it is impofsiblc we should be 
not of ourselves, I speak of those that are fallen. L- 
said, they were ambitious, they were actuated by hatred, ttu 
were obstinate ; but let Cneius Pompey, and the many 
who are now no more, be free from the imputation ol 
of madnefs, of parricide. When did any man, Caesar, hear t 
charge come out of your mouth? or what else was the inn 
of your arms, but to guard yourself from ignominy J what 
did that invincible army of yours do, but defend its own 
and your dignity ? what; when you was desirous there slur- 
be peace, was it that you might accommodate (natter* wit 
wicked or witb virtuous citizens? for my own part, Caesar* : 
favours I have received at your hands, would not appear so con- 
siderable to me, if I thought you had pardoned me as you would 
a villain. For how could you have deserved so well of the 
public, if you had suffered so many villains to retain their di 
nity ? At first, Caesar, you thought it only a secefsion, not 
war : no hostile rancour, but a civil difsension between two pa 
tics, who both wished well to their country, though from dif- 
ferent pafsions and views they were seduced into measures in- 
consistent with its welfiire. The leaders were almost equal in 
dignity, though those who followed them were perhaps 
the cause was then doubtful, because there was something 
approved of on both sides ; but now we must certainly reckon 
that the best, to which even the gods have lent their aid 
after such proofs of your clemency, where is the man but in 
approve of a victory', by which none fell but such as were in arm 

Sect. VII. But, omitting the common cause, let us pro 

to that we have in hand. Which then, Tubero, d 

was easiest, for Ligarius to leave Africa, or for you nol 

thither? could we help it, you will say, when th< 

it ? if you ask my opinion, by no means ; but the 

ordered Ligarius thither, and he obeyed ut a time whe 

was a necefsity of obeying the senate; y ou, at a time whe^i 

justice, for almost all the chief ma^trates and senate. 
Pompey's side, whereas scarce a single person oi consular d 
that of Ciesar. 

M m 3 



fi40 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

poriric nemo qui noluit. Reprehendo igitur ? minime vero; tf$ 
que enina licuit alitor vestro generi, nomini, familia:, discipline : 
sed hoc non eoncedo, ut qui bus rebus gloriemini in vobts, eas- 
dc ni in aliis reprSjieiidatis. Tuberonis sors conjecta est ex S. C. 
cirui ipse hair Jdefset, morbo etiam impediretur : statucrat [se] 
excusafe. Hac ego novi propte'r communes' neceisitirdines, 
qua? mihi sunt cum L. Tuberone:. domi unaeruditi, ( ,a ) militias 
contubernales,> post afiines, in omni denique vita famiiiares : 
magnum etiam vinculum, quod risdem semper studiis usi sumus, 
Scio igitur Tuberonem doini manere voluife^ sed ita quidam age- 
bant, ita reipubliea; santiisimum nomen opponebant, ut etiam si 
alitcr sentiret verborum tamen ipsorum pondifs sustinere non 
polset ; ceisit auctoritati amplifsimi viri, vel potiu's paruit: una 
est profectus cum iis, quorum erat una causa: tardius iter fecit: 
itaque in Africam venit jam occupatam. Hinc in Ligariiim. 
crimen oritur* vel ira'potius; nam si crimen est prohibere ilium 
voluifse, non minus magnuuv'est, vos Africam, omnium provin- 
eiartim arcem, natam ad bellum contra banc urbem gerendum, 
obtinerc voluifse, quam aliquem se imperatorem efse maluifse. 
Atque is tamen aliquis Ligahus non fait. Varus impevium se 
habere dicebat: fasces certe babebat. Sed quoque modo se 
illud habeat ; baec querela vestra, Tubero, quid valet? recepti 
in provinciam non sumus: quid, si efsetis? Caesarine earn tradi* 
turi fuifsetis, an contra Ca3sarem retenturi? 

YIII. Vide quid licentias, Ceesar, nobis tua liberalitas def, vel 
potius audacise. Si respondent Tubero, Africam, quo senatus 
eum sorsque miserat, tibi patrem suum traditurum fuifse: non 
dubitabo apud ipsum te, cujus id eum facere iiiterfuit, gravifsi- 
niis verbis ejus consilium reprehendere ; non enim si tibi ea res 
grata fuifset, efset etiam probata. Sed jam hoc totum omitto, 
non tarn ut nc offend am tuas patientifslmas aures, quant ne Tu- 
bero, quod nuriquam cogitavit, fa crurus fuifse videatur. Venie- 
batis igitur in Africam provinciaftij unam ex omnibus hnic vic- 
toria maxime infestam : in qua erat rex potentifsimus, inimicus 
June causa-, aliena voluntas, conventns .firmi atque magni : 
qiuero, quid : facturi fuifsetis? quanquam quid fac turi fueritis 
non dubitem, cum videam quid teceritis. Prohibit! estis in pro- 



(12) Militia: ccniuber vales.'] Vegetius tells us, that the centuries were 
divided in such a 'manner, that ten soldiers quartered under one pavilion, 
or tent, and had one set over them,- who was called the cuput s coiitiihernii. 
This circumstance gave rise to very intimate acquaintances among the sol- 
diers. Cicero and Tubero had been contubernales, or tent-fellows, in th* 
Marsic \\;.r, wliich is likewise called the italic, and the Social war. In 
that war Cicero served under Cn. Tompelus Stlrabo, the lather of Pompey 
the Great. 



cIcero's OfLATft 

*ny person might have dbjobeved, if l 
blame you? not in the least, lour birth, 
education, would not permit you to act otllfi 
allow that you should condemn in Ol 
yourselves. Tubpro's comunifston was all* 

pf the senate, when lie himscM wits not pi« 

was confined by sickneis: be had n 

These things I became acquainted with b> i 

noxious I have with L. Tubero* We were i 

together; served abroad togethei ; 

inarriage ; and, in a word, hi 

What united us very closely too, was our bavin 

sued the same studies. To inv knowh 

wanted to stay at home ; but matters were 

certain persons ; so often did they opp 

the public to his resolutions, that, tuough he thou 

he was not able to support the v< hi or word*. !!, : 

yielded to, or rather obeyed the authority of a V< man, 

■went along with those who were engaged in til 

proceeded slowly in his journey, and accordin 

Africa, when it was already taken pofsefsion of. 1 1 

ceeds the charge, or rather resentment against I Fbi 

if it is a crime to have been inclined to prevent you, it i> n 

criminal in you to have been desirous of seizing Atria 

strength of all our provinces, and a country destined to 

war on this city, than for any other to have been d 

being master of it: and yet this other was not Quintal 

Varus said that he was in pofsefsion of the governmenl 

fasces he certainly had: but however that be, what can this 

complaint of yours, Tubero, avail? we were notadmitte 

the province. What if you had ? would you have d< 

up to Capsar, or have held it against him r 

Sect. VIII. Observe what freedom, Cesar, or rather 
presumption your goodnefs inspires us with. If Tub 
reply, that his father would have delivered up j 
vince of Africa, whither the senate, and his own foi 
sent him, I shall not scruple, even before v< i 
was that he should do this, to condemn his conducl I 
verest terms; for jthouffh such a proceed in 
acceptable to vou, vet you could not have appn 
I pais by all this, not so much lest I should off 
patience, as lest Tubero should seem to have 
never thought of, You came then into Africa. 
which of all others was most exasperated at I 
which there was a very powerful priiice, an 
cause; the people disaffected ; and strong and n 
formed: I ask, what you intended to have d< 
no doubt of what you would have done, when I 



$42 M. T, CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

vincia. vestrfl pedem ponere; et prohibiti, ut perhibetis, summa\ 
cum injuria : quomodo id tulistis ? acceptae injuriae querelam ad 
quern detulistis? nempe ad cum, cujus auctoritatem secuti in 
societatem belli veneratis. Quod si Caesaris causa in provinciarn 
vcniebatis, ad euin profecto exclusi provincia venil'sctis : venistis 
ad Pompeium ; quae est hsec ergo apud Caesavem querela, cum 
eum accusatis, a quo queramini vos prohibitos contra Caesarem 
ball em gerere ^ Atque in boc quidem vel cum mendacio, si vul- 
tis, gloriari per me licet, vos provinciarn fuifse Csesari tradituros, 
etiamsi a Varo et quibusdam aliis prohibiti efsetis ; ego autem 
confitebor, culpam else Ligarii, qui vos tantae lauclis occasione 
privaverijt. 

IX. Sed vide, quaeso, C. Caesar, constantiam ornatifsimi viri 
L. Tuberonis: quam ego, quamvis ipse probarem, ut ^robo, 
tamen non commemorarem, nisi a te cognovifsem imprimis earn 
virtutem solere laudari. Quae fuit igitur unquam in ullo homine 
tanta constantia? constantiam dico ? nescio an melius patien T 
tiam pofsem dicere: quotus enim istud quisque fecifset, ut, a 
quibus partibus in difsensione civili non efset receptus, efsetque 
etiam cum crudelitate ejectus, ad eas ipsas rediret ? magni cu- 
jusdam animi, atque ejus viri est, quern de suscepta causa pror 
positaque sententia nulla contumelia, nulla vis, nullum pericu- 
fum pofset depellere. Ut enim caetera paria Tuberoni cum 
Varo fuifsent, bonos, nobilitas, splendor, ingenium, quae ne- 
quaquam fuerunt; hoc certe praecipuum Tuberonis fuit, quod 
justo cum imperio ex S.C in provinciarn suani venerat ; nine 
prohibitus, non ad Caesarem, ne iratus; npn domum, ne iners; 
non aliquam in regionem, ne comdemnare causam illam, quam 
secutus efset, videretur; in Macedonian! ad Cn. Pompeii castra 
venit, in earn ipsam causam a qua erat rejectus cum injuria. 
Quid? cum ista res nihil commovifset ejus animum, ad quern 
veneratis, languidiore, credo, studio in causa fuistis ? tantum- 
piodo in praesidiis eratis ; animi vero a causa, abborrebant? an, 
ut fit in bellis civilibus, nee in yobis magis, quam in reliquis, 
©nines vincendi studio tenebamur ? pacisequidem semper auctor 
£ui; sed turn sero: erat enim amentis, cum aciem videres, pa- 
pem cogitare. Omnes, inquam, vincere volebamus : tu certe 
praecipue, qui in eum locum venifses, ubi tibi efset pereundum, 
nisi vicifses; quanquam, ut nunc se res habet, non dubito quia 
jbanc-galutem anteponas illi victorias 



WCERO'S OUATK 

afterwards did. Y«W wtre prevented i tin 

that province, and prevented, as you all 

justice. How did you bear with this? to whom dft 

your complaints tor the injuries you w 

man whose authority you acknow!* 

joined in the war. But it you had ton 

to this province, to him certainly you wo 

debarred it; but you went to Pompey. V* 

can you complain to Ca,>sar, when 3 

you complain that you was pn fn m mal 

Cesar? and this, indeed, though fatee, 1 will • 

boast of, if you please, that you intended to ha\ u 

province to Caesar, but were prevented b\ Varus and 

Yet 1 will confefs, that the whole bW 

rius, who deprived you of an opportuni 

Sect. IX. But observe, C<esar, I i h 
of the most accomplished L. Tubero; a virtue win. 
approved of, as I really do, yet I should not have inc. 
we re it not that I know you used to extol it above all 01 
tues. Was ever then such great constancy known in a 
Constancy, do I say? I know not whether J ought not 1 
call it a perseverance. For in a civil ditk-uMon, would an 
who is not only not admitted into a party, but even n 
cruelty, apply again to the same part v ? Tijlfl tai» 

greatnefs of soul, and is worthy of that man who;, 
ties, no power, no danger can drive from the caus, 
in, and the principles Fie embraces. Supposing 
from being the case, that Tubero was but 0,1 an equal 
with Varus, as to dignity, quality, figure, and genius m 
tainly Tubero had the advantage, that he came into 
vince, invested with a legal command troui the 
was driven thence, he did not betake lumselt to C*sar, 
should seem to be actuated by resentment-, not ho 
Should seem unactive ; not to a foreign country , uW 

seem to condemn that cause which he had espc 
Foinpey's camp in Macedonia, and to that part; 
had been injuriously rejected. But now, when his mad 
prefsion on. Pompey's mind, you were much Ids c 
cause. You were only employed in the g^r^s^but 
ter aversion to the party: or, as * generally U* 
wars, nor more with you than others, were we all poise 
the desire of conquering ? I indeed was al* -ay* a «o 
peace, but it was then too late; tor it mutf have been 
Lert'ain thoughts of peace, when the battle v a, 
array. We were all, I say, desirousot conquer ng , > 
who came to that camp, where you 1 must ^'« J * °' 
though, as the case now stands, I doubt not but } oti p. 
ing safe here, to being victorious there. 



544 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

X. ITao ego non dicerem, Tubero, si aut vos cohstantiae ves- 
trae, aut Cfesatein beneficii sui pcenitereb Nunc qrnero, utruni 
vestras injurias, an reipublicie persequamini: si reipublica:; quid 
de vestra in ea causa perscverantja respondebitis? si vestras; yi- 
dete nc erretis, qui Caesarem vestris inimicis iratum fare putetis, 
rum ignoverit suis. {taque nuui tibi videor, Caesar, in cau^a 
Ligarii occupatus else? rnun de ejus facto dicere? quicquid dixi, 
ad unam summam reibrri volo, vel humanitat.is, vel dementia*, vei 
misericordire tua\ Causus, Caesar, egi mu]tas(' 3 ) et quidem tecum, 
C*)dumtein foro tcnuit ratio bonorum tuorum: certe nunquam 
hoc modo: Ignoscite, judices : err wit : laqsus est: non putavit ; 
si unquum postkac : ad parentem sic agi solet; ad judices, Non 
fecit, non cog iiavit, falsi -testes, fiction crimen. Die te, Caesar, 

de facto Ligarii judicem efse: quibus in praesidiis fuerit, quaere, 
taceo : ne hcec quidem colligo, quae fortafse volerenf; etiam apud 
judicem : legates ante bellum profectus, relictus in pace, bello 
epprefsus, in eo non acerbus : turn etiam fiiit totus animo et 
studio tuus. Ad judicem sic agi solet ; sed ego ad parentem 
loquor, Erravi, temere feci, poenitet : ad clementiam tuam con- 
fugio : delicti veniam peto : ut ignoscas oro ; si nemo impetra- 
vit, arroganter ; si piurimi, tuidem fer op.em, qui spem dedisti. 
An sperandi Ligario causa non sit, cum mihi apud te sit locus 
etiam pro altero deprecandi ? Quanquam neque in hac ovatione 
spes est posita causae, nee in eorum stuc(iis, qui a te pro Liga^ 
rio petunt, tui necefsarii. 

XI. Vidi enim et cognovi, quid maxime spectares, cum pro aIi T 
cuj us salute multi laborarent : causas apud te rogantium gratiosiores 
efse,quam preces: neque te spectare, quam tuusefset necei'sarius 
is quite oraret; sed quam illius, pro quo laboraret. ( ,5 ) Itaque 

(13) Et quidem tecum.'] Caesar is ranked by Cicero among the' greatest 
orators that Borne ever bred, fie is said to have published several ora- 
tions, which were greatly admired for two qualities seldom found together, 
strength and elegance Quintilian says of him, that he spoke with the 
vame force with which he fought ; and that if he had devoted himself to the 
bar, he would have been the only man capable of rivalling Cicero.. 

(14) Dum tc in foro ienuit ratio lionorum tuorum.'] The forum, or great 
square of the city, was the place where the afsembiies of the people were 
h.ekl, and where all the public pleadings and judicial proceedings were 
usually transacted. As this, therefore, Was the grand school of businefs 
and eloquence, the scene on which all the affairs of the empire were deter- 
mined ; it was here that those who aspired after public dignities laid the 
foundation of their fortunes. They applied themselves to pleading of causes, 
and to the defence of the innocent in distrefs, as the surest way to popu- 
larity ; and, in consequence of that, to power and influence in the state. 
Caesar is said to have practised ip this manner from the twenty-first to the 
thirty-ninth year of his age. 

(15) Itaque tribuis tu quidem tuis ita multa ] This pafsage is not a little 
perplexed, and, if the common reading must needs- be retained, it will 
be difriculVto find any just connexion between this and the preceding 
sentence. If we read ptsij instead oiitaque, it will., we apprehend, remove. 



cicero's or 

Sect. X. These things I should not 
jf either you repented of yoijr constancj 

iicfs. I now ask, whether you 
your own, or your country's y 
can you account for your si 
your own, take- care that \\m UO I|01 
Caesar, will retain a resentment u 
lias pardoned bis own. \)i) you think tin 
)ioie to plead the cause of Ligarius 
conduct? Whatever 1 have said, 1 desire may be 
relating to the single point, either of your humunit} . 
inency, or your compulsion. 1 have pleaded mat 
sar, even with you, while your progrefs m hou< 
the forum, but never surely in this manner : Pardon him 
lords I he has fallen into an error ; he km Up; he u 

think: if he ever offends any more. Thus indeed we 
to plead before a father: but before thejud 
;//, he had no siifh intention ; the evidence isjxthe; the tha 
ifroundlefs. Pronounce yourself the judge, Cttsar, of what is 
charged upon Ligarius ; inquire in what garrisons he was. f 
say nothing; nor shall I urge what might perhaps amount to a 
full proof before a judge : lie went abroad as a lieutenant be- 
fore the war : he was left in the province in a time of | 
was overpowered in time of war ; but proved no violent en 
for his heart was wholly yours. This is the manner of pl< 
before a judge; but I am now speaking before a fath 
have done ami Is; I have acted rashly j I am sorry for it; I fly 
to your clemency; I beg pardon for my offence; I bi 
you, to forgive me. If no one has ever obtained tor. 
your hands, then am I guilty of arrogance; but if many have, 
(io you who have inspired us with hope, likewise grant us re 
lief. Shall Ligarius have no room for hope, while i 
permitted to intercede for another ? though my 
ceedingin this cause are neither placed i u this speech, noria the 
solicitations of your friends in favour pf Ligarius. 



Sect. XI. For I have seen and know what you cl 






jard, when many solicit warmly in favour of one, th 
your suppliants has'mote weight with you than their ei 
and that you do not consider how much th 
applies is your friend, but how much he is the friend ot hi 



the obscurity; and though W know of no authority for mak 
teration in- the text, wc 'have adopted it in the translation, 

reader at liberty to take the pafsage in Lhi 
seem more satisfactory, as wc cannot I 

tofa meaning. 



5*6 M. T- CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

tribai-s in qtiidem tuis ita multa, ut mihi beatiores ille efse vide- 
antur interdum, qui tua liberalitate fruuntur, quam tu ipse, qui 
i-Uis tam multa concedis. Sed video tamen apud te causas, ut 
<&ixi, rogantium valere plus, quampreces; ab iisque te moveri 
maxirae, quorum justifsimum dolorem videas in pretendo. In 
Q. Ligario conseivando, nmltis tu quideni gratum facies necef- 
sariis tuis: sed hoc, quaeso, considera, quod soles. Pofsum 
fortifsimos viros, Sabinos, itibi probatifsimos, totumque agrum 
Sabinum, rlorem Italics., robur lieipublicee proponere; nosti op- 
time homines ; animadverte horam omnium mcestitiam et dolo- 
rem ; huj^s T. Brocchi, de quo non dubito quid existimes, la- 
cry mas squaloremque ipsius, et iilii vides. Quid defratribus di- 
cam? noli, Caesar, putare, de uni-us capite jios agere : aut tres 
tibi Ligarii in civitate retinendi sunt, aut tres ex civitate exter- 
rainandi: quodvis exsilium his est optatius, quam patria, quam 
domus, quam dii penates, uno illo exsulante. Si fraterne, si 
pie, si cum delore faeiunt, moveant te horum lacrymae, moveat 
pietas, moveat germanitas : valeat tua vox ilia, quae vicit; te 
enim dicere audiebamus, nos omnes adversaries putare, nisi qui 
fiobiscum efsent; te omnes, qui contra te non efsent, tubs. 
Vides-ne igitur hunc splendorem, omnem banc Broccborum do- 
mum, hunc L. Marcium, C" Caesetium, L, Corfidium, hosce 
omnes equites Rom. qui adsisnt veste njutata, non solum notos 
tibi, vera in etiam probatos viros,, ( l6 ) tecum fuifse? Atque his 
[maximejj irascebamnr, e& hos requirebamus, et iris nonnulli 
etiam mitiabantur. Conserva igitur tuis suos ; ut, quemadmo- 
dinri csetera quae dicta sunt a te, sic hoc verifsimum reperiatur. 

XII. Quod si penitus perspieere pofses iconoordiam Ligario- 
rum, omnes fratres tecum judicares fuifse. [ An potest quisquam 
fkrbitare, qein, si Q, Ligarius in Italia efse potuifset, in eadera 
sentential futurns fuifset, in qua fratr.es fuerunt ? quis est, qui 
iiorum consensum conspirantem, et pene conflatuni in hac 
p'rope sequaiitate fraterna non noverit? qui hoc non sentiat, 
quidvis prius futurum fuifse, quam ut hi fratres diversas senten- 
tias fortunasque sequerentur? Voluntate igitur omnes tecum 
fuerunt: tempestate abreptus est onus; qui si consilio id fecifset, 
efset eorum similis, quos tu tamen salvos efse voluisti. Sed ierit 
ad bell um: difsenserit non a te solum, veruro etiam a fratribus: 
lii te orant tui. Equidem cum tuis omnibus negotiis interefsem, 



(16) Tecum fuifse J] From what goes before, and from what follows, it 
^appeai-s very evident, that Cicero does not speak here of those who fol- 
lowed Caesar to the war, but of those who chose to stay at home, and not 
to join either party : for Caesar reckoned the latter his friends as well as the 
former, as we a-re told in the preceding sentence. 



CICERO S ORATIOfll. 

whom he applies ; though such is your libei ahrv to 

that those who share it seem sOmetimei more 

you who dispense it. But yet I j 

the cause of your suppliants has 

their entreaties; and that you are inrluci 

whose grief you observe to be beat grounded. In i 

Q. Ligarius, you will indeed do an ag 

your friends; but attend, I be 

one tiling". I can produce to your I 

the greatest bravery, approved by you, 

whole country, the ilower of Italy, "and bi 

you know the men well ; observe then 

opinion of T. Brocchus here, I am no 

tears and concern, observe the tears of his son. \ 

say of his brothers? do not imagine, Caesar, thai 

terceding for one man's life : three Ligarrus's are to be rix< 

you in Rome, or rooted out of it for ever: anv exile i 

eligible to them than their country, than their home, thj 

household gods, while this one brother is in banishn, 

behaviour is brotherly, if it is pious, if r 

their tears, let their piety, let their fraternal regard 

Let your word prevail, as it has hitherto done ; fix 

you say, that we looked upon all as enemies that v. i 

us, but that you looked upon all as friends that 

you. Must you not acknowledge, then, that all thissplen 

pearance, all this family of the Brocchi, L. Marchrtb 

tius, L. Corfidius, all these Roman knights, who ai 

mourning apparel, whom you not only know, but know to be 

worthy men, were all of your party r These are them 

most offended at; w r e demanded them, nay some of ns even 

threatened them. Preserve their friends, 

veracity may appear in this, as in every thing else you li. i 

Sect. XII. But if you could thoroughly pen 
mony there is among the Ligarii, you would he of i 
were all of your side. If Q, Ligarius coidd have !.«■ 
can there be any doubt whether lie would have been in I 
way of thinking with his brothers? who does not know • 
mony, and almost samenefs of sentiment of this broth- 
who is not sensible that any thing may sooner 
that these brothers should be divided in their sentiment! 
fortunes? all then were with you in inclination : or 
away by a tempest ; and though lie had been 
you by design, he would still be on the same ft) 
whom yet you have thought proper to spare. But, alio* 
that he took up arms, that he separated himself not 01 
you, but likewise from his brethren; yet these who i 
for him are your friends. Indeed, as I have taken a com 



548 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

rnemoria teneo, qualis turn T. Ligarius quaestor urbanus fuerit 
erga te et dignitatem tuam : sed parum est me hoc meminifse; 
spcro etiam te, qui oblivisci nihil soles, nisi injurias, quoniam 
hoc est animi, quoiwam etiam ingenii tui, te aliquid de hujus 
qiuestoris officio cogituntein, etiam de aliis quibusdam quaesto^ 
nhus reminiseentum recordari. Hie igitur T. Ligarius, qui 
turn nihil egit aliud (neque enim haec divinabat) nisi ut tu eum 
tui studiosum, et bonmn virum judicares, nunc a te supplex 
fratris salutem petit: quam hujus admonitus officio cum utrisque 
his dederis, tres fratres optinios et integerrimos, non solum sibi 
ipsos, neque his tot ac talibus viris, nequp nobis necefsariis 
suis,. sed etiam reipublicae condonaveris. Fac igitur, quod de 
h mine nobililsimo etclarifsimo M. Marcello restitutofecisti nu- 
per in curia, nunc idem in foro de optimis, et huic omni fre- 
quentise probatifsimis fratribus ; ut concefsisti ilium senatui, ('?) 
tic da hunc populo, cujus voluntatem carifsimam semper ha^ 
buisti I et si ille dies tibi gloriosifsimus, populo Romano gratif- 
simu'sfuit; noli, obsecro, dubitare, C. Caesar, sim^lem ilfi glo- 
riae laudem quam saepifsime quaerere ; nihil est enim tam popu- 
lare quam bonitas : nulla de virtutibus tuis plurimis nee gra-, 
tior, nee admirabilior, misericordia est; homines enim ad deos 
nulla re proprius accedunt, quam salutem hominibus dando ; 
nihil habet nee fortuna tua majus, quam ut pofsis ; nee natura 
tua melius, quam ut velis conservare quamplurimos. Longio-? 
rem orationem causa forsitan postulat, tua certe natura brevio- 
rem. Quare, cum utilius else arbitrer te ipsum, quam me, aut 
quenquam loqui tecum, finem jam faciam : tantum te ipsum ad- 
monebo, si illi absenti salutem dederis, praesentibus his omnibus 
te daturum, 



(17) Sic da hunc populo.'] It may not be improper lo acquaint the reader, 
that Ligarius was a man of distinguished zeal for the liberty of his country, 
and that after his return he \\xed in great confidence with Brutus, who 
found him a fit person to bear a part in the conspiracy against Csssar, 
Near the time of its execution, however, he happened to be taken ill: 
and when Brutus, in a vi it to him, began to lament that he was fallen 
sick in a very unlucky hour; Ligarius, Plutarch tells us, raising himself 
presently uj)On his elbow, and taking Brutus by the hand, replied, Yet 
still, Bruins, if you mean to do any thing worthy of yourself, 1 am well. Nor 
did he disappoint Brutus's opinion of him, for we find him afterwards in 
the list of the conspirators. 



CICERo's OR 

in" all your affairs, 1 well remember how much l | 
city quaestor, was devoted to you and 

to little purpose for me to call' this t«» mind 

whose nature and disposition it 

will, upon recollection, reme'mbcr somewhai 

quaestor, especially Whe«l you call to mind thai 

quaestors. The same T. Ligarins, then, win 

nothing else than to make you believe he i 

service, and a worthy man, (lor this be could rtol 

begs his brother's lite at your hands. When you granl i 

a reward of his services, to both the supplii I then 

restore three brethren ot* distinguished worth and pi 

only to one another j nor to that numerous and honom 

nor to us bis friends, but to the service of the state. \\ I 

lately did then in the senate by the illustrious M M 

that do now in the forum, by the best of brotbei 

approved of by this numerous ai'seinbly. \ 

cellus to the senate, give Ligarius to thcpcople, w 

tions you have ever held so dear ! and if that day was gl 

to } T ourself, and delightful to the Roman people, do n 

I beseech you, CaBsar, to acquire the like glory as ofl 

sible. For there is nothing so popular as gooonefs , no! 

your numerous virtues is either more amiable, or moi 

of admiration, than your clemency, in nothing < 

proach nearer to the gods, than by preserving their f< 

creatures. Your fortune has not any thing more e> 

that you have the power, or your nature any th 

amiable than that you have the inclination, to save nut) 

This cause, perhaps, requires a longer speech ; your dis 

tion, certainly, a shorter one. Wherefore, as I am p 

that the language of your own heart will have m< 

than any thing that I, or any other person, can - 

conclude, after putting you in mind, that 

Hfan who is absent, you preserve all wli 



O RATIO XV. 



IN M. ANTONIUM PHILIPPICARUM*. . 
PHI LIP PIC A PRIMA. 

■ I .I.I H I | ' t • HU B I .1 I. II !■■ I I I I ■ .11 if 

I. A Ntequam de republica, patrcs conscripti, dicam ea quae 
JlX dicenda hoc tempore arbitror, exponam vobis breviter 
consilium et profectioois, et reversionis mees. ( ! ) Ego, cum 
sperarem aliquando ad vestrurfi consilium auctoritatemque rem- 
publicam efse revocatam, manendum mihi statuebani, quasi in 
vigilia quadam consulari ac senatoria ; nee vero usquam disce- 



* When Caesar was put to death in the senate, Mark Antony, who was hie 
colleague in the consulship, apprehending some danger to his own life, 
stripped himself of his consular robes, fled home in disguise, began to for- 
tify his house, and kept himself close all that day ; till perceiving the pa- 
cific conduct of the conspirators, he recovered his spirits, and appeared 
again the next morning in public. His sole view was to seize the govern- 
ment to himself, the moment he should be in a condition to do it ; and 
then, on pretence of revenging Caesar's death, to destroy all those who 
were likely to oppose him. Such were his designs, which he pushed on 
with great vigour and addrefs : he made it his businefs to gain time by dis- 
sembling and deceiving the republican party into a good opinion of him; 
profefsed a sincere inclination to peace, and no other desire than to see 
the republic settled again on its old basis. He seemed indeed to be all 
goodneis and moderation ; talked of nothing but healing measures; and, 
for a pro@f of his sincerity, moved that the conspirators should be invited 
to take part in the public deliberations, and sent his son as an hostage 
for their safety. Upon which they all came down from the capitol, 
where they had taken refuge: Brutus supped with Lepidus, Cafsjus^with 
Antony; and the day ended to the universal joy of the city, who imagined 
that their liberty was now crowned with certain peace. On the pretence 
of public concord, however, there were several things artfully proposed 
and carried, of which he afterwards made a most pernicious use; particu- 
larly a decree for the confirmation of all Caesar's acts. He soon let ail 
people see for what end he had provided this decree, to which the senate 
consented for the sake of peace ; for, being master both of Caesar's papers, 
and of his secretary Faberius, by whose hand they were written, he had 
an opportunity of forging and inserting at pleasure whatever he found of 
use to him ; which he practised without any reserve or management ; selling 
publicly for money, Whatever immunities were desired by countries, cities, 
princes, or^private men, on pretence that they had been granted by Caesar, 
and entered into his books. He gave several other instances of his violence, 
"which opened the eyes of the conspirators, and convinced them that there 
was no good to be expected from him, nor from the senate itself, which 
■was under his influence. This turn of affairs made Cicero resolve to pro- 
secute what he had long been projecting, his voyage to Greece, to spend 
a few months with his son at Athens. lie despaired of any good from the 
consulship of Antony and Dolabeila, and iatended to see Rome no more 



ORATION 



THE FIRST AGAINST M. 



Sect. I. TJEfore I treat, conscript falhi 

JO latins to t le public, which 1 think in 

be mentioned on this occasion, I sh 

words, the reason both of mv depai 

flattered myself that the government was 

under your direction and authority, I determini 

to continae here on a kind of a consular 

nor did I once desert my post, or call off mv e 



contrary vvuius to jL.eucwpt-u a a. fjwumuun^ u . b .. 

to repose himself in the villa of his friend Valerius, and v. 

portunity of a fair wind. During his stay there, the prin< 

of the country came to pay him their compliments and b 

of an unexpected turn of affairs at Rome towards a gem-rat pa 

This made him presently drop all thoughts of pursuing 

determine to return to Rome, where he arrived on 1 1 

senate met the next morning, to which he was 

Antony but excused himself by a civil me! 

nosed bv the fatigue of his journey. Antony took this a 

in great rage threatened openly in the senate, to order his 

pulled down, if he did not come immediately ; till by the 



milieu uuwu, ii uv v..^ .."* w ~-"~ 

the afsembly, he was difsuaded trom using any viol- 
the day was to decree some extraordinary horn-' 

ar, v 

rrmir 

; be 1 
n the omt 
either be frightened into a compliance, which 
own party, %t, bv opposing what was intend. 



the day was to decree some extraordinary honours to 
Caesar with a religious supplication to him, as to a divir. 
determined not to occur in it, yet knew that an oppoj 
only be fruitlefs but dangerous ; and for that reason - 
on the other hand, was desirous to have him thi 

_ . , 1 • . _ I! ,,!,ir- I Will <1 l(»KOfl h' 



own party, or, ov u^wsmg «...» ~-~ 

soldiery; but, as he was absent, the decree paised w.t 
tion 'The senate met again the next day when A 
absent himself; and '-ye the stage dear ^C, .a. 



tion of Demosthenes, were called afterwards in* 
nounced in Ihe sixt .'-third year of his »g* *» d li 
ninth from the building of the city . 

(1) E°o cum sperarem ahquando ad x*s< 
death seemed the most likely means of restoru 
nate, which his ambition, while alive, had d, 
artifice of Antony, and the supenor p*A fortune * 



552 M. T. CICKRONIS ORATIONE^. 

debam, nee a republic!, dejiciebafn oculos, (*) ex eo die, quo in 
sedem Telluris convocati sumus; in quo templo, 'quantum in mef 
fait, jeci fundamenta pacis: ( 3 ] Atheniensiumque renovavi vctns 
exemplum: ( 4 ) Graxum etiam verbum usurpavi, quo turn in 
sedantis discordiis usa erat ci\jtas ilia : atque omnern memoriam 
discordiarum oblivione sempiterna delendam censui; Prpeclara 
turn oratio M. Antonii ; egregia etiam voluntas; pax denique 
per cum et per liberps ejus cum praestantiisimis civibus confir- 
mata est. Atque his principiis reliqua consentiebant ; ad deli- 
berationes eas, quas habebat domi de republican principes civi- 
tatis adhibebat: ad banc ordinem res optimas deierebat: summa 
cum dignitate et eonstantia ad ea, qua? quaesita erant, respon- 
debat: nihil turn, nisi quod erat notum omnibus, in C. Ga?saris 
commentariis reperiebatur. Num qui exsules restituti ? uuum' 
aiebat, praeterea neminem. Num lmmunitates datae ? nulla 1 , 
respondebat. Afsentiri enim nos Ser. Sulpieio, clariisimo viro> 
voluit, ne qua tabula, post idus Martias, urlius decreti Caesaris 
aut b'eneficii, -figeretur. Multa p'raetereo, eaqtie ptfseclara: ad 
singulare enim M. Antonii factum festinat oratio. ( 5 ) Dictatu- 
ram, quae vim jam r'egiae potestatis obsederat, funditus ex re- 
publica sustulit, de qua ne sententiasquidem diximus: scriptum 
senatusconsultum, quod fieri veil et, attulit: quo recitato, auc~ 
toritatem ejus siimmo studio secuti sumus, eique amplifsimrs 
verbis per senatusconsultum gratias egimus. 

II. Lux quaedam videbatur oblata, nori mod a regno, quod 
pertuleramus, sed etiam regni timore sublato : magnumque pig- 
nus ab eo reipublicse datum, se liberam civitatem eTse velle, cum 
dictatoris noraen, quod safepe justum fuifset^ propter perpetual 
dictaturse reeentem memoriam funditus ex republica sustulilset. 



end was defeated, to which, perhaps, the inactivity of the conspirators at 
their first setting out did not a little contribute. 

(2) Ex eo die, quoin cedem Telluris convocati sumus. ] Two days having 
been spent after Cesar's death in mutual afsurances of ooncord and a'mit) , 
betwixt the conspirators on the one hand, and Antony on the other; on 
the third, the senate was convened by the latter in the temple of Tellus, 
in order to adjust the conditions of their agreement, and. confirm them 
there by some solemn act. This temple seems to have been particularly 
chosen for that purpose, on account of its being nigh the Capitol, whither 
Brutus and his party had tied for refuge. 

(3) Athe?iiensiumque renovavi velus.exemplum.~\ The Athenians, afte r the 
expulsion of the thirty tyrants set over them by the Lacedaemonians, 
enacted a law containing a general act of oblivion for all that was past. 

(4) Gntxian etium verbum usurpavi.']. viz. eZprnriowr i. e. air amnesty, or 
act of oblivion 

(5) Dictatvram qiue vim, &c] The conspirators having been obliged to 
leave Borne on account of the violence of the mob, who were spirited up 
by the abetters of Cesar's tyranny, Antony, as a mark of his disposition to 
oeuce, and to ingratiate himself with the senate, drew up a decree, to 

6 



CICERO'* OB 

concerns of my country, torn 

temple of Tellus; wh( 

foundations of peace, and revived 

Athenians. 1 likewise boi 

that state formerly made use of in quieti 

their city; and delivered il as my opinion 

;<>( civil discord should ho buried in I oblivion 

Vahje on that occasion was the I 

mirable top was his disposition towards the st 

reconciliation was continued by him and hi 

best of .our citizens. And to' tins beginnii 

conduct was then agreeable. He summoned 

sons of the state, to afsist at the consultations, which i 

his own house, concerning public affair 

importance before this afseuibly; answ< 

were put to him, with the g nd hrmn 

uothing was then found in Cesar's reg 

knew of. Have any exiles been res; i 

one. Have any immunities been granted ? hi 

He even wanted us to agree to what Was pro, 

trious Ser. Sulpicins, that no bills containing eitb 

a grant of Caius Caesar, should be posted up after iii 

March. I omit many other particulars, and those illustJ 

ones, and hasten to mention an extraordinary action ol Mark 

Antony's. He utterly abolished the dictatorship* which, 

some time, had afsumed regal authority; upon which poin 

dicl not so much as declare our sentiments, lie 1 

dinance of the senate, ready drawn up in the manner in w 

he wanted it should pafs ; upon hearing it read, we complied 

with the utmost feadinefs ; and, by another act, returned him 

thanks in the most honourable terms. 

Sect. II. A new light now seemed to break out upon as, 
being delivered not only from royalty, to which we had 
tiially been subject, but from all apprehensions of itsei 
restored: and great was the proof he gave of his being 
elined that the^ state should enjoy its liberty, since he ul 
abolished the office of dictator/ which had often been 
account of the recent memory of its being made perpetual. 
senate a few days after seemed to be freed from all appn 
of bloodshed; the fugitive who pretended to be n 

abolish for ever the office and name of dictator. '1 he senate pal 

it were by acclamation, without putting it even to tin- vote; and d< 

the thanks of the house for it to Antony ; who. 

him, hadjlxcd an indelible infamy by it 'on Cis.ir, in , 

that for the odium of his g0\ * * f > such a . 

ccjlary and popular. 



534 M. 

Liberatus caedis periculo paucis post diebus senatus videbatut j 
( ( 6 ) uncus impactus est fugitivo iili, qui in C. Mani nomen in- 
vaserat ; atque haec omnia comtmmiter cum collegi. Alia porro 
propria Dolabellse : quae nisi coliega abfuifset, credo eis ruifeii 
intura communia. Nam cum serperet in urbe infinitum malum, 
idque manaret in dies latius: iidemque bustum in foro facerent, 
( 7 ) qui illam insepultam sepulturam effecerant; et quotidie magis 
niagisque perditi hominesj cum sui similibus servis, tectis ao 
templis urbis minarentur : ( 8 ) talis ani mad ver.sio fuit Dolabellae, 
cum in audaces sceleratosque servos, turn in impuros et ne.farios 
Jiberos, talisque eversio illius exsecratss columnse, ut mirimj 
mihi videatur, tarn valde reliquum tempus ai> uno illo die dis- 
sensifse. Ecce enim kalend. Juniis, quibus ut adefsemus edix^- 
erat, mutata omnia: nihil per senatum, nmlta et magna pe£ 
seipsum, et absente pppulo et invito. Consules designati se au* 
dere negabant in senatum venire :. patriae liberatores urbe care- 
bant ea, eujus a cervicibus jugum servile dejecerant: quos ta- 
menipsi consules etin concionibus et in omni sermone laudabant^ 
(9) Veterani, qui appellabantur, quibus hie ordo diligentifsime 
caverat, non ad conservationem earum rerum, quas habebant, 
sed ad spem novarum praedarum incitabantur. Quae cum au- 
dire mallem, quam videre, ( ie ) haberemque jus legationis libe- 
rum, ea mente discefsi, ut audefsem kalend, Januariis, quod ini- 
tium senatus cogendi fore videbatur. 

IH. Exposui, P. C.profectionis consilium ; nunc reversionis, 
cruse plus admirationis habet, breviter exponam. Cum Brundu- 

(6) Uncus impactus est fugitivo Mi, qui in C. Mar ii nomen invaser at. ~\ 
This Marrus, by some called Chamaces, by others Reraphilus, and by 
Appian/Amatius, had signalized himself as the chief incendiary at Caesar's 
funeral, and the subsequent riots ; and thus having served Antony's ends, 
in driving Brutus and his party out of the city, was afterwards seized and 
strangled by his order, his carcase dragged by a hook to the Scalie Gemc- 
niance, and hurled into the Tiber. 

(7) Qui illam insepultam sepulturam effecerant.'] Cicero calls it insepultam 
sepulturam, because all the funeral rites were not regularly performed. 

(8) Talis animadversiojuit Dolabell<e.~\ The mob, headed by the impostd? 
Marius above-mentioned, and artfully spirited up by Antony's agents, ido- 
lized the memory. of Caesar. For this purpose they reared a pillar twenty 
feet high in the forum, and inscribed' it parenti patrije; they per- 
formed sacrifices upon it ; made vows before it ; and decided certain law- 
suits by one of the parties swearing by the name of Caesar. Dolabella, who 
was then Antony's colleague in the consulate, rased the pillar to the 
ground ; the slaves who had been instrumental in rearing and worshipping 
it, he crucified, and the citizens he threw from the Tarpeian rock. 

(9) Veterani, aid appellabantur. ~\ When Antony had put his affairs intQ 
the best train that he conW, and appointed the first of June for a meeting 
of the senate, he made progrefs through Italy, in order to gather up Caesar's 
old soldiers from the several colonies and quarters in which they were 
settled. By large J^ribes, and larger promises, he attached them to his in- 
terests, and drew great bodies of them towards Rome, 'to be ready for any 
purpose that his affairs should require. 

(10) Haberemque jus legationis liberum.~\ The legaiio libera was an 
honorary legation or embafsy, granted arbitrarily by the senate to any 



CICJ " : 

to CaiusMarius, was di 

and all this was done i 

things there wort-, that b 

Antony been prefent, I maki 

common to both. For when a 

into the city, and daily extended its i'nfl 

very men were erecting a monument in tin 

formed those unfinished Ob 

Jains, in conjunction with slaves 

ened the temples and buildings of the i | 

more; such was the vengeance Dolabella to 

dacious and profligate slaves, and the in 

citizens; and such the spirit he showed when he 

execrable pillar to be demolished, that to me it i 

subsequent conduct should differ so widely from his b 

on that glorious day. For behold, by the first of June 

on which he had summoned us to meet, every thing was 

no one thing was done by the senate ; but many, and of 

consequence too, by himself, both in the absence, an I 

the inclinations of the people. The consuls elect decJi 

durst not venture into the senate; the deliverers of their country § 

whom yet the consuls themselves extolled in all their ai 

and in their common conversation, were banished thai 

from whose neck they had torn the yoke of slavery. 

terans, as they are called, whom this body had so careful! 

vided for, were spirited up, not to preserve their pr< 

sefsions, but to hope for future plunder. As I chose rati 

hear of, than to see these things, and had obtained the pi;. 

of an honorary embafsy, I departed with a resolution ot'n 

ing'to Rome on the kalends of January, which, in all probability, 

was to be the first day of the senate's meeting. 

Sect. III. Thus, conscript fathers, have I laidbefoi 
reasons of my departure : I shall now briefly acquaint 
the motive of my return, which has in it somewhat i 



of its members, when they travelled abroad on their prival 

to give them a public character, and a right to be treatt 

or magistrates ; which, by the insolence oi thest 

burden upon all the states and cities through which 

in his consulship, designed to abolish it ; but being driven from I 

of the tribunes, he was content to restrain the continuance < 

before was unlimited, to the term of one year. \\ hen he had 

prosecute his voyage to Greece upon the prefect occasion, I 

Dolabella to procure him the grant of an honoi 

Antony should think himself slighted, h. 

subject. Dolabella immediately named him for one of bii 

which answered his purpose still better ; lor without 

service, or limiting him to any time, it left him at full lit>« 

ever he pleased, 

Nn 



556 M, T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sium,it.erque illud, quod tritum in Graeciam est, ( n ) non sine causfL 
vitavifsem, kalend. Sextilibus veni Syracusas, quod ab urbe ea 
transmifsio in Graeciam laudabatur ; quae tamen urbs mihi con^ 
junctifsima, plus una me nocte cupiens retinere, non potuit ; 
veritus sum, ne meus repentinus ad meos necefsarios adventus 
suspicionis. aiiquid afferret, si efsem commoratus. Cum autem 
me ex Sicilia ad Leucopetram, quod est promontorium agri 
Rhegini, venti detulifserit, ab eo loco coiiscendi, ut transmitte- 
rem : nee ita multum provectus, rejectus austro sum in eum 
jpsum locum, unde cortscenderam ; cumque intempesta nox 
efset, mansifsemque in villa P. Valerii comitis et familiaris mei, 
pbstridieque apud eundem, ventum exspectans, manerem, mu- 
nicipes Rhegini compluresad me venerunt, ex his quidam Roma 
recentes ; a quibus prhnum accipio M. Antonii concionem, quae 
ita mihi placuit, ut ea lecta de revejrsione primum coeperim co- 
gitare : nee ita multo post, ( ,2 ) edictum Bruti adfertur et Cafsii ; 
quod quidem mihi, fortafse quod eos etiam plus reipublicas quam 
familiaritatis gratia diligo, plenum aequitati videbatur. Adde- 
bant praeterea (fit enim plerumque ut ii, qui boni quid volunt 
adferre, affingant aiiquid, quo faciant id, quod nuntiant, laetius,) 
rem conventuram : kalend. Sextilibus senatum frequentem fore : 
Antonium, repudiatis malis suasoribus, remifsis Galliis provinciis, 
ad auccoritatem senatus efse rediturum. 

IV. Turn vero tanta sum cupiditate incensus ad reditum, ut 
ftuhi nulli neque remi neque venti satisfacerent : non quo me 
adtempus occursurum putarem, sed'ne tardius, quam cuperem, 
reipublicae gratularer. Atque ego celeriter Veham devectus 
Brutum vidi, quanto meo doiore, non dico : turpe mihi ipsi vi- 
debatur, in earn urbem me audere reverti, ex qua Brutus cederet ; 
et ibi veil© tutoefse ? ubiillenon pofset. Neque vero ilium, simili- 
ter atque ipse eram, commotum efse vidi ; erectusenim maxim i 
ac pulcherrimi facti sui conscientia, nihil de suo casu, multa de 
nostro querebatur; ex quo primum cognovi, ( I3 ) qua?, kalend. 
Sextilibus in senatu fuifset L. Pisonis oratio : qui quanquam 
parum erat (id enim ipsum a Bruto audieram) a quibus de- 
buerat, adjutus ; tamen et Bruti testimonio (quo quid potest 
efse graviusr) et omnium praedicatiorie, quos postea vidi, 
magnam mihi videbatur gloriam consecutus. Hunc igitur ut 



(1 1) Non sine causa vitavifsem^ It appears from Cicero's letters to Att* 
cus, that Antony had some legions at Brundusium ; and it is here insi- 
nuated, that, having heard of his intention to travel into Greece, they had 
formed a design of way-laying him. 

(12) Edictum Bruti adfertur et Cafsii.'] This relates to an edict drawn up 
by Brutes and Cafsius, iii answer to one published before by Antony, 
fcharging them with acting in opposition to the public welfare. 

(13) Qua kalendis Sextilibus i?i senatu fuifset L. Pisonis oratio.'] L. Piso 
was father-in-law to Ca?sar, and had signalized himself by a vigorous speech • 
in the senate, on the first of August, in favour of th« public liberty. 



CICERO S ORATION: 



jprising. When I had, not without ream, a 
Brundusium, and left the Kigfa road to Grei 
racuse about the first of August, because I was told 

from thence into Greece was the best ; and thou ■•■, 1 i, 
greatest regard for that city, I could not b 
stay any longer in it than one night. 1 v 
den a visit to my friends, if I made an} 
give some handle for suspicion. But wb 
contrary winds from Sicily to Leucopetra, a pro 
territory of Rhjegiuni, I set sail from thence, with 
pafsing over. I had not proceeded far, howei 
driven back by a southerly wind to the same p 
late at night, and I had lodged at the house of 1'. Valerius, 
companion and friend, with whom I spent the next day i 
waiting for a wind, a great many of the corporation pfRh 
gium, and some of them lately come from Horn, 
see me. These first gave me a copy of Antony's speech, u h 
so Relighted me, that I began to entertain thoughts of return- 
ing. Not long after, the edict of Brutus and CalVms v 
brought me, which I thought a very equitable one, perhaps I 
cause I love them more on a public than a private account. 
They told me besides (for it generally happens that those who 
are deskous of bringing any good news, add something of their 
own to render it more agreeable) that matters would he made 
up ; that there would be a full senate on the first of August ; 
that Antony, having dismifsed his wicked counsellors, and gi\ 
up his claim to the provinces of Gaul, would return to his alle- 
giance to the senate. 

Sect. IV. So ardent upon this was my desire of retur 
that neither winds nor oars could satisfy my impatience ; i 
that I thought I could be here in time, but that I might not 
later than I wished in congratukiting my country. In a si 
time I reached Velia, where I saw Brutus; with how much 
concern, I shall not say. I thought it a dishonour for me to dare to 
return to tha't city which' Brutus had been obliged to quit, and 
to be desirous of remaining in safety in a place where be coukl 
not. But he was not affected in the manner that I was ; foi , 
supported by the, consciousness of so great and gloi 
he complained loudly of our misfortunes, but said nothing 
his own. From him I first learned what kind of a speech was 
delivered in the senate, on the first of August, by L. Piso ; v 
though he. was but poorly seconded by those whose dul 
(for this too I heard from Brutus) yet both by the t< 
of Brutus (and what can be of greater weight?) and the iv. 
of all those Isaw afterwards, he appeared to me to have acquired 
great glory. I made haste, therefore, to second him, who 
ii'ot seconded by those that were present j not that I could I 

Nn3 



55S M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONESc 

sequever, properavi, quern prresentes con sunt secuti; non ut 
proiiccrem aliquid (heque enim .sperabaiu id, neque praestare 
poteram,) sed ut, si quid inibi humanitus acoidiiset ( ,4 ) (multa 
autem hnpendere vidcbantur pra;ter naturam, prseterque fatum,) 
hujus tamen diei vocem banc testem reipublicae relinquereni 
njese perpetuae erga se voluntatis. Quoniam utriusque consilii 
causam, p'atres conscripti, probatam vobis efse con lido, prius 
quam de republiea, dicere incipio, pauca querar de hesterna 
M. Antonii injuria, cui sum amicus: idque me nonnullb ejus 
officio debere efse, pras me semper . tuli. 

V. Quid tandem erat causae, cur in senatum hesfcerno die tarn 
acerbe cogeret ? solus-ne aberam ? an non sgepe minus frequentes 
fuistis? art ea resagebatur, ut etiam & j grotos defer ri oporteret ? 
Hannibal, credo, erat ad portas, aut de Pyrrhi pace agebat.ur ; 
( ?5 ) ad quam causam etiam Appiura ilium et caecum et senem 
delation efse, memorise proditum est. De supplicationibus re- 
ferebatur i quoin genere senatores deefse non solent ; coguntur 
enim non pignoribus, sed eorum, quorum ^dehonore agitur, gra- 
tia ; quod idem fit, cum de triumpho refertur ; : ita sine cura 
cpnsules sunt, ut pene liberum sit senatori non adefse ; qui cum 
naihi mos notus efset, cumque de via languerem, et mihimet 
displieerem, misi pro amicitia, qui hoc ei diceret. At ille, 
vobis audientibus, cum fabris se domum meam venturum efse 
dixit; nimis iracunde hoc quidern, et valde intemperanter ; 
cujus enim maleflcii tanta ista poena est, ut dicere in hoc ordine 
auderet, se publicis operis disturbaturum publiee ex senatCis 
sententia sedificatam domum? quis autem unquam tantodamno 
senatorem coegit? ( ,6 ) aut quid est ultra pignus, aut mulctam ? 
qui si scifset, quam sententiam dicturus efsem, remisifset aliquid 
profecto de severitate cogendi. 



(14) Mulla autem impendere videbatdur pr&ter naturam, pra?terquefatum.~\ 
As the commentary of-Abramius may throw some light upon these words, 
we shall here transcribe it: Ilia mors, says he, est secundum naturam, et 
secundum fata, qua', ex principiis naturce inir insects, et ex pugnd quatuor pri- 
■marum qualiiaium, una prcevaknte conlingit. Ilia prater naturam quidem, 
sed tamen secundum fata a qiue ab externa causarum serie infertur ; utfi quis 
incendio, velnaujragio, vel alio casu per eat. Ilia prceler naturam, prater que 
fatum, quce nee a principiis natural intrinsecis nee a causis externis agendi 
necefsitate constrictis, sed ab hominis libertate dependit; ut cum quis mortem 
sibi consciscit, vel alterim scelere occiditur. 

(15) ddq'uam caus am etiam Appium ilium, fit caecum, ei senem, &c.} When 
Fyrrhus sent Cyneas to Rome to negotiate a peace with the senate, several 
of the senators discovered a strong inclination to enter into a treaty. A 
rumour of this disposition being spread through the city, came to the ears 
of Appius Claudius, the famous orator and civilian, who had for sometime, 
on account of his great age and the lofs of his sight, retired from all public 
businefs, and confined himself wholly to his family. Upon hearing 
the report of what pafsed in the senate, he caused himself to be carried 
in the arms of his domestics to the door of the senate-house, where his 
sons and his sons-in-law met him, and let him into the afsemblyv which 
was bushed into a profound silence the moment he appeared. The 
firm and honest speech which the venerable old man made upon the 



' CICF.P.O'S ORAT1' 

«ny«ei pthatliw 

but th.it .( 1 should happen to share in 

inanity (and many thin 

nature and fate seemed to I 

to my country the speech I 

monument oF my affection. 

fcitners, that my conduct in b 

approbation, before I enter on 

beg leave to complain briefl) of the injury done 

by M. Antony, whose friend I prof! 

I ought to be so, on account of some ofcli 

under, I have always been ready to eu l.n.n-. ledj 

Sect. V. What then was the reason « 
terday in so harsh a manner to afsisl in the 
only person absent? have not you frequenl 
bouse? was the businefs under consideration of such impoi 
that there was a neeefsity even of carrying 
Hannibal, I suppose, was at our gates, or the debate 
a peace with Pyrrhus ; on which occasion 
great Appius was carried to the senate, old and blind , 
The question was about supplications, in which kind of d. 
the senators are generally present, not with a view to save 
forfeitures, but out of regard to those whose honours are under 
debate; which is likewise the case when the question j- 
cerning a triumph. So unconcerned on such an occasion art 
consuls, that a senator is almost at liberty to be absent 
was no stranger to this form, fatigued with my journev, an 
easy in my own thoughts, I sent, as a friend, to acquaint him 
with it. But he, in your hearing, declared that he would come 
himself to my house with workmen. Too pafsionatelv, iri 
and intenaperately spoken ! for what crime could deserve such a 
punishment as could justify his declaring in this atsemhly, that 
he would come with the workmen of the public, to pull d 
a house built by a decree of the senate at the public ctta 
Who ever laid a senator under such compulsion ? or wh; >.\ 
nalty is there in such a case beyond a forfeit or a fine : I [ad he 
but, known what I had to say, he would certainly have 
somewhat of his severity. 

occasion, so awakened the Eoman spirit in the senators, that •. 

ther debate, they unanimously passed a decree instantly to di«mifs tl 

bafsador with this answer: that the Romans would enter int,> no \ 

king Pyrrhus, so long as he continued in Italy ; but with all th 

would pursue the war against him, though lie should vanquish a thousand La- 

vinius's. 

(61) Aut quid est ultra pigrus, ant mulctam ?~\ In the latter tirrfr*: < 
•republic, the usual wa\ of calling the senators was by an I 
the time and place, and published several days before* that I 
might be more public. If any senator refused or neglected t 
Summons, the consul could oblige him to give surety tor the payintt 
certain fine, if the reasons of his absence should not be 

.14 



560 M. Ti CICERONI^ ORATfONES, 

VI. An me censetis, P. C. quod vos inviti sccuti estis, decree 
turum luiisc, ( 17 ) ut parentalia cum supplicationibus miseeren- 
tur ? ut inexpiabiles reiigiones in rempublicam inducerentur ? 
ut deeernerentur supplicationes mortuo ? Nihil dico cui : fuerit 
ille L. Brutus, qui et ipse regio dominatu rempublicam libera- 
vit, ( ,s ) et ad similcm virt litem, et simile factum, stirpem jam. 
prope in quingentesimum annum prppagavit: adduci tamen non 
poi'sem, ut queriquarn mortuum conjungerem cum dec-rum im- 
inortalium religione; ut, cujus sepulcrum usquam exstet, ubi 
parentctur, ei publics s'upplieetur. Ego vero earn sententiam 
dixifsem, patres conseripti, utme adversus populum Eomanum, 
si quis accidifset gravior reipublicse casus, si bellum, si morbus, 
si fames, facile poi'sem detendere ; quae partim jam sunt, par- 
tim timco ne impendeant. Sed hoc ignoscant dii immortales, 
velim et populo Romano, qui id non probat, et huic or.dini, 
qui decrevit invitus. Quid, de reliquisreipublicsemalislicet-ne 
dicere 1 ? mibi vero licet, et semper licebit, dignitatem tueri, 
mortem cohtemnere : potestas modo veniendi in hunc locum sit, 
dicendi periculum non recuso. Atque utinam, P. C. kalendis 
Sextilibus adefse portuifsem ! non quo profici potuerit aliquid, 
sed ne unus modo consularis, quod turn accidit, dignus illo ho- 
nore, dignus republica inveniretur. Qua quidem ex re mag- 
num accipio dolorem, homines amplifsimis populi Romani bene- 
fices usos, L. Pisonem, ducem optimse sentential non secutos. 
Idcirco-ne nos populus Romanus consules fecit, ut in altifsimo 
amplifsimoque gradu dignitatis locati, rempublicam pro nihiio 
liaberemus? non modo voce nemo L. Pisoni consularis, sed ne 
vultu quidem afsensus est. Quaiaam (malum!) est ista volun- 
taria servitus ? fuerit quajdam necefsaria ; nee ego hocab omni- 
bus iis desideroy qui sententiam lococonsulari dicunt ; alia causa 
est eorum, quorum silentio ignosco ; alia eorum, quorum vo- 
cem .requiro; quos quidem doieo in suspicionem populo Ro- 
mano venire, non modo metus,quod ipsum efset turpe, sed ahum 
alia de causa deefse dignitati suae. 



(17) Ut parentalia "cum supplicationibus miscereniur •.] The parentalia 
■ were only feasts held,- and sacrifices offered in memory of the dead. They 

were called parc?italia, because performed on account of parents and rela- 
tions. 

(18) Et ad similem virtutem, et simile factum stirpem, Sfc.^ This ac- 
count of M. Brutus's descent from L. Brutus,' who expelled Tarquin, and 

gave freedom to Rome, is called in question by some of the ancient writers ; 
and particularly by Dionysiusof Balicarnafsus, 'who alleges several argu- 
ments against it, which seems to be very plausible. While Brutus, lived, 
however, it was universally allowed to him : Cicero mentions it frequently 
as a fact that nobody doubted ; and often speaks of the image of olcl 
Jjiui'i, which Marcus kept in. his house among those of his anc^^rs : 
and AUicus, who was peculiarly curious in the antiquities of the flpni 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 

" SEC 'T- VI. D0 } '0l.inuto,nr,(un «r.pt lathers, that . ^ | 
Were obliged to comply, I would have given i,„. 
ing parental obsequies with public than! 
cing inexpiable rites into the state? lo. . 
.toadead person, I will not say who? Had ,i I 
who, with his own hand, delivered Rome horn 
and, at the distance of almost live hundred 
gated a race, virtuous like himself, to do thru country the like 
glorious service, I should never have ken prevailed up 
blend the honours of the gods with thai of a dead man; ri 
sent that he, who has no where a monument i 
obsequies, should have public supplications paid him. 
conscript fathers, were the sentiments I should have delii 
that I might have easily justified myself to the people of I 
incase of any heavy calamity, through war, through , 
or famine; part of which has already fallen upon as, and 
I am afraid, threatens us. But I hope the immortal 
pardon the people of Rome, Avho do not approve it ; and the 
senate, who decreed it contrary to their inclinations. What! 
.must we not speak of the other grievances of the state } 1 mav, 
and ever will afsert my dignity, and despise death. Let me but 
have the liberty of coming into this afsembly, and I shall 
Recline the danger of speaking freely. And, () conscript la- 
thers, that I could have been present on the first of August ! 
,not that my presence could have been of any service, bat that 
there might not have been, as was then the case, onlv on 
sular person, wljo was worthy of that honour, and worthy of 
the state. This, indeed, is matter of great concern to me, that 
the men who have enjoyed the highest honours of the state, did 
,not second L. Piso, who made so excellent a proposal. \ 
for this th,e people of Home raised us to consular dignity , thai 
when placed in the highest and most honourable station, we 
should set at nought the commonwealth - ? Not a consul 
prefsed, nor even looked afsent to what Piso proposed. \ 
on this voluntary servitude ! it is too much that we at 
to a necefsary one. I do not expect that all those- who 
consular rank, should deliver their sentiments. '1 I 
whose silence I pardon, is different from theirs whose \ 
mand. lam indeed sorry to see them suspected by the 1 
people, not of fear only, though that would 
of, being severally wanting to their dignity, for several ca 



families, drew up Brut,us's genealogy for him, deducing his 

that old hero, in a 'direct line through all the intermediate • 

father to son. Cvrrt. Nep, vil, Ait. 



M. T. CICERO&IS ORATIONES. 

VII. Qqare primam maximas gratias et babeo et ago L'.Tiscni, 
qvi-uo.n, quid eflicere poise t in republica, eogitavit, sed quid 
ere debevet: deinde a vobis, F. C. peto, ut, etiamsi se- 
qvii minis audebitis orationem atque auctoritatem nieam, benigne 
me tamen, ut fecistis adhuc, audiatis. Primuiii igituracta Ceesa- 
ris servanda censeo : non quo probem ; quis enim id quidem 
potest? sed quia rationem habeodam maxime arbitror pacis at- 
que otii. ( lg ) Vellem adefset Antonius, modo sine advocatis ; sed, 
■ut opinor, licet ei minus valere: quod mihi heri per ilium non 
licebat. Doceret me, vei potius vos, P. C. quemadaioduna ipse 
Caesaris acta defend erit. An in commentariolis et chirographis, 
et libellis se uno auctore prolatis, ac ne prolatis quidem, sed 
tantummodo dictis, acta Caesaris rirma erunt ? queeille in aes in- 
cidit, in quo popuii jufsa, perpetuasque leges efse voluit, pro 
nibilo habebuntur? Equidem sic existimo, nihil tarn efse in actis 
Caesaris, quam leges "Caesaris; an, si cui quid ille promisit, id 
erit fixum ? quod idem facere non potuit, ut multis multa pro- 
mi. >a non fecerit; quae tamen multo plura illo mortuo reperta 
sunt, quam vivo beneficia per omnes annos tributo, et data; sed 
ea non muto, non moveo: summo enim studio praeclara ill his 
acta defendo: ( zo ) pecunia utinam ad Opis maneret ; omenta 
ilia quidem, sed b\s temporibus, cum iis, quorum est, non red- 
ditur, necefearia; quanquam ea quoque sit effusa, si ita in actis 
tfuit. Ecquid est, quod tarn proprie drci pofsit actum -ejus, qui 
togatus in repub. cum potestate imperioque versatus sit, quam 
lex ? quaere acta Graqcbi, leges Semproniee proferentur : quaere 
;Sul!ee, Corneliae : quid ? Cn. Pompeii tertius consulatus in quibus 
actis constituit ? nempe in legibus : a Caesara ipso si quaereres, 
quidnam egifset in urbe et in toga ; leges multas respotfderet se 
et praeclaras tulifse; cbarographa vero aut mutaret, auction da- 
ret : aut si dedifset, non istas res in actis suis duceret. Sed ea ipsa 
concedo: qujbusdam in rebus etiam conniveo : in maximis vero 
rebus, id est, legibus^ acta Caesaris ciifsolvi ferendum non puto. 



(19) Vellem adefset Antoniuss modo sine advocatis. ~\ Cicero here means 
those veteran soldiers whom Antony generally carried with him to the se- 
nate house, in order to intimidate the senators, and awe them into a com- 
pliance with his measures. 

(20) Pecunia utinam ad Opis maneret. ~\ Among other instances of Antony's 
violence, he seized the public treasure, which Cass ar had deposited for 
the occasions of the government in the temple of Ops, amounting to above 
live millions and a haft of our money. With this he paid off his debts, 
-which, at thetimeof Csesar's death, amounted to above three hundred 
thousand pound's; purchased soldiers; and gained over to his measures 
his colleague Dolabella, who had long beea opprefsed with the load of 
bis debts. 



CICERO'S OR ATI i 

Sect VII. In tiie first place, then, [ return 
knowiedgments to L. PisO, who con- 
power, but what was Ins duty, to do 
place, I beg of you, conscript fathers, that tlio 
not have the courage to support my speech and m 
you would at least, as you have hitherto don 
voura'ble hearitlg. Fust, then. I 
Caesar's acts should be confirmed ; not that I a] 
who indeed can? but because 1 think w< 
greatest regard to peace and tranquillity. I v 
present, but without his counsel. He, I n 
lege to be indisposed, though yesterday I could i 
indulgence. He would show me, or rather you, t 
thers, in what, manner he defends Caesar's 
of Caesar, contained in his notes, his minutes, and memoranda 
produced by this man only, nay, not even produced, hut 
to be extant, remain in force? and shall what 
brafs, by which he admitted the commands of the people, . 
declared their laws perpetual, be of no account? 1 am ind 
of opinion, that nothing is so much the act of ( tassar, as I 
of Ctesar. If he has made any promises to one, must those pro- 
mises remain in force, when he himself could not have p 
formed them? as he actually made many promise 
which he never performed; but which are found out in much 
greater numbers since his death, than he ever bestowed boun- 
ties in his life. Yet these, I am neither for changing, nor a! 
ing ; nay, his noble acts I defend with the greatest zeal. I « 
the money were still in the temple of Ops. It was ind 
stained with blood ; but since it is not restored to those to whom 
it belongs, it might be serviceable to us on this occasion. 
let that too be difsipated, if Caesar's acts will have it so. Is t 1 . 
any thing that can with so much propriety he called tin* art of 
a man, who in peaceful robes was invested with power and 
authority in the state, as a law which he pafsed ? ask tor the 
acts of Gracchus, and the Seinpronian laws will k 
ask for Sylla's, the Cornelian. Besides, in what * 
Pompey's third consulate ? In his laws, most 
you asked Caesar himself what lie had done in the 
nate, he would have replied that he had pafsed n 
cellent laws. But as to his notes, he would either hu\ e 
them, or not given them; or i£ he ha i them, be 

not have reckoned them among his acts. , 
I give up, some others I connive at: but in the m 
points, that is, in his laws, I am of opinion tfcil 
suffer Caesar's acts to be annulled. 



561 U. T. CICERONIS ORATTIONES. 

VIII. Qua? lex mclior, utilior, optima etiam republ. saspiu& 
flagitata, quam ne pnet6ri£ provincial plus quam annum, neve 
plus quam biennium consulares obtinerentur ? Hac lege sublata, 
videnuirne vobis acta Cresaris servari? ( ZI ) quid? ea lege, qua? 
promulgata est de tertia decuria, ncnne omnes judicariae leges 
Crcsaris clifsolvuntur ? et vos acta Caesaris defenditis, qui leo-es 
ejus evertitis ? nisi forte, si quid memoria causa retulit in libel- 
lum, id numerabitur in actis, et quamvis iniquum et inutile sit, 
defendetrur : quod ad populum centuriatis comitiis tulit^ id in ac- 
tis Caesaris non habebitur. At quae est ista tertia decuria ? 
Centurionum inquit: quid? isti ordini, judicatus lege Julia, 
etiam antea Pompeia, Aurelia non pateHat ? Census praefmieba- 
tur, inquit, non centurioni quidem solum, sed equiti etiam Ro- 
mano. Itaque viri fortifsimi atque honestifsimi, qui ordines 
duxerunt, res et indicant etjudicaverunt. Non quaero, inquit, 
istos : quicunque ordinem duxit, judicet. At si ferretis, qui- 
cunque equb meruifset, quod est laudatius, hemini probaretis. 
In judice enim spectari et fortuna debet, et digmtas. Non 
quaero, inquit, ista: addo etiam judices manipulares, (**) ex ie- 
gione Alaudarum ; alitor enim nostri negant pofse se salvos efse. 
O contumeliosum honorem iisquos adjudicandum nec-opinantes 
vocatis ! hie enim est legis index, ut ii in tertia decuria judicent y 
qui libere judicare non audeant: in quo quantus est error, dii 
immortales, eorum, qui istam legem exeogitaverunt ! ut enim 
quisque sordidifsimus videbitur, ita libentifsime severitate judi-* 
candi sordes suas eluet : laborabitque, ut honestis decuriispotius 
dignus videatur, quam in turpemjure conjectus. 

IX. Altera promulgata lex est, ut et de vi, et de majestate 
datrmati, ad populum provocent, si velin't : haec utrum tandem 
lex est, an legem omnium difsolutio ? quis enim est hodie, cujus 
intersit istam legem manere ? nemo reus est legibus illis, nemo 
quern futurum potemus; armis enim gesta nunquamprofectoin 
judicium vocabuntur. At res popularis ; utinam quidem vellct 



(21) Quid? ea lege, qu<e promulgata est, 8Cc.~] Csesar had pafsed a law, 
confining the judicial power to the senators and knights, and excluding 
the Triburd JErarii, who before had acted as judges. Antony was now de- 
sirous of adding a third order to the two former, to be chosen out of the 
centurions, 

(22) Ex legione Alaudarum. ,] This legion of the Alaudte was first raised 
by Caesar, and composed of the natives of Gaul, armed and disciplined 
after' the Roman mariner, to which he gave the freedom of Rome. He 
called it by a. Gallic name, Alaudie, which signified a kind of lark, or 
little bird, with a tuft or crest rising upon its head ; in imitation of which, 
this legion wore a crest of feathers on the helmet; from which origin the 
word was adopted into the Latin tongue. Antony, out of compliment to 
these troops, and to al'sure himself of their fidelity, made a judiciary 
law, by which he erected a third clafs oi judges, to be drawn from 



CICERO S ORATIONS, 5^5 

S^CT. VIII. Was ever a law <>l 
or more frequently demanded in 1 
.titan that the praetorian provin 
than a year, nor the consular longer than tv 
abolished, can you imagine tha 
What! are not all Caesars judicial laws 
which has been promulged in delation to a thin 
And do you defend Cassar's acts, who thus ab 
Jefs whatever he set down by way of in 
pocket-book, i& to be deemed his act, and, hov 
Fefs soever, to be defended ; whilst that which he 
fullest afsemblies of the people, is nor to b 
of his. But of whom is this third decu 
turions, says he. How? by the Julian law ; 
by the Pompeian and Aureliati, that order 
all judicial authority. A Certain estate, says he, w 
Yes; and that not only to a centurion, but to a Roman kn 
Accordingly the bravest and worthiest men that at 
of corps still act, and have long acted in a judicial I 

mean not these, says he, but let every man that \\,i> 
corps, have a power to judge. But if you were to enai 
whoever had served on horseback, which is the more honourable 
service, might sit as judge, you would not gain the approbation 
of a single person ; for in a judge, both his rank and fortune 
are to be regarded. These, says he, I do not mind ; 1 am even 
for creating additional judges out of the subalterns of the Gallic 
legion; for otherwise, our party say, they cannot be safe. I. 
proachful honour to those, whom you thus unexpectedly ra 
to the seat of justice; for this is the title of the law, tha 
should act as judges in the -third decury who arc not at lib* 1 
to judge freely. Immortal gods! what an error was tin* in 
those who contrived that law; for in proportion as each shall 
-appear a contemptible tool, the more solicitous will be be to 
wipe off his infamy by judging with severity, that h< 
to be worthy of being a member in the honourable, rather than 
to be thrust deservedly into the disgraceful declines. 



men i 



Sect. IX. There is another law protyulged, by wh 
who are convicted of violence and treason, may appeal, n 
please, to the people. Whether now is tins a law, or an 
gation of all laws? For what man living is there, who 
it is that this law should pais? No one is prosecuted upon 
laws, nor any one likely to be; for men surely will never he 
brought to a trial for what they have done in a it the 



the officers of this legion, and added to the other t- 

knights; for which Cicero often reproaches 1 1 1 1 ) famous 

prostitution of the dignity of the republic. 



566 M. T. CICERONIS ORA^IONES. 

is aliquid efse populare ; omnes enim jam Gives de reipub. 
salute, una et mente et voce consentiunt. Quae est igitur ista 
cupiditas ejus legis ferendae, qua?, tnrpitudinem summam habeat, 
gratiam nullam? quid enim turpius, quam qui majestatem pe- 
puli Romani per vim minuerit, eum damnatum judicio, ad earn 
ipsam vim reverti, propter quam sit jure damnatus? Sed quid 
plura de lege disputo ? quasi vero id agatur, ut quisquam pro- 
vocet; id igitur, id fertur, ne quis omnino unquam istis legibus 
reus fiat. Quis enim aut accusator tarn amens reperietur, qui 
reo condemnato objici se multitudini conducta) velit? aut judex, 
qui reum damnare audeat, ut ipse ad operas mercenarias statim 
protrahatur? Non igitur provocatio ista legedatur: sed d use 
maxime salutares leges qusestionesque tolluntur. Quid est igi- 
tur aliud adhortari adolescences, ut turbulenti, ut seditibsi, ut 
perniciosi cives velint efse? quam autem ad pestem furor tri- 
bunitius impelli non poterit, his duabus quaestionibus, de vi, et 
de majestate sublatis ? Quid, quod obrogatur legibus Csesaris, 
quae jubent ei, qui de vi, itemque ei, qui majestatis damnatus 
sit, aqua et igni interdici? quibus cum provocatio datur, nonne 
acta Gaesaris rescinduntur ?, Quae quidem ego, P. C. qui ilia nun- 
quam probavi, ita conservanda concdrdiae causa arbitratus sum ? 
ut non modo, quas vivus Caesar leges tulifset, infirmandas hoc 
tempore non putarem, sed ne illas quidem quas post mortem 
Csesaris prolates efse et fixas videtis, 

X. De exsilio reducti a morti*q: civitas data non solum sin- 
gulis, sed etjam nationibus et provinciis universis a mortuo: 
immumtatibus infinitis sublata vectigalia a mortuo. Ergo~ haec 
uno, verum Optimo, auctore domo prolata defendimus: eas 
leges, quas ipse vobis inspectantibus recitavit, pronuntiavit ? 
tulit, quibus latis gloriabatur, iisque legibus rempublicam con- 
tineri putabat, de provinciis, de judiciis, eas inquam, Caesaris 
leges, nos, qui defendimtis acta Caesaris, evertendas pntamus ? 
At de iis tamen legibus, quae promulgate sunt, saltern queri 
pofsumus : de iis, quae jam latae dicuntur, ne illud quidem 
|icuit ; illae enim nulla promulgatione latae sunt ante quam scrip- 
tae. Quaerunt quid sit, cur aut ego, aut quisquam Vestrum, 
P. Co bonis tribunis plebis leges malas metuat j paratos babemus 



CICERO s ORATIONS. 

tiling is popular. I wish, indeed* he w< hing to 

be popular; for all ti, - r now io 

and voice, as to the 

this eagernel's for a law, which lias < 

and nothing popular ? for whal 

the man who has by force viol 

Home, and has been lawfully condemned for In 

have recourse to that violence, of wu 

legally convicted? But why oood I talk m< 

the debate now were, that an 

tion and import of the whole is, bhat n 

seeuted on these laws. For when 

frantic to be found, as to be willin 

penary mob, after a criminal is 

would venture to pais sentence upon the party 

himself might be dragged, the next moment, Ik 

mercenary mechanics r An appeal then is not the t ; i 

by this law ; but two other laws and proceedings . hi, 

tary are reversed. For what else is it, but an 

to young- fellows to become seditious, turbulent, and pe 

citizens? For to what fatal extremities may not the tribuiii; 

power be pushed, if the two laws relating to violence and t 

son are abolished? What! shall we render Csssaf'fl laws of n 

effect, which order that one convicted of violence Of 

should be deprived of the benefit of lire and water? An 

such an appeal be allowed,. are not Tatar's acts abolish 

Which acts, even I, conscript fathers, who never approved of 

them, have always thought should be preserved tor (he 

peace; so that I not only disapproved of invalidate 

those laws which Caesar pafsed in his life-time, but e\v:. ti 

which you have seen exposed and posted up since his death. 

Sect. X. By the dead are exiles recalled: by the tL ad the 
freedom of Rome is granted, not to prifa 
even to whole nations and provinces: by the dead, nui 
corporations have their taxes remitted. \\ L pro- 

duced then from his house, upon a single, but an unque 
evidence, we defend: and shall we, who cor, 
think of abolishing those laws, winch he himself, in our si 
recited, pronounced, enacted; laws, which he valued hi 
upon ; Lws, in which he thought the wh< m ol OUi 

vernment comprehended ; laws, winch affect our proftl 
our trials? Yet of those laws wL nly prop, 

at least at liberty to complain ; as to those wh 
already pafsed, we have not even that lit* 
out being proposed, were pafsed before the 
They ask, why either I, or any oi you, conscript fathers, lb 







563 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

qui intercedant; paratos qui rempublicam religione defendant : 
vacui inetii else debenius. Quas tu mihi, inquit, interce'fsioncs, 
quas religiones nominas? eas scilicet, quibus reipublicae salus 
continctur. Negligimus ista, et nimis antiqua, et stulta duci- 
juus. Forum scpietur: omnes claudentur aditus: armati in 
prarsidiis myitis locis collocabuntur : quid turn? quod erit ita 
gestum, id lex erit? et in aes incidi jubebitis? cedo, ilia legiti- 
ina; (") CONSULES POPULUM JURE ROGAVERUNT 
(hoc enim a majoribusaccepimus jus rogandi) POPULUSQUE 
JURE SCIVIT: qui populus? isne quiexclususest? quo jure? 
at] eo, cjiiod vi et armis omne sublatum est? Atque baec dico de 
futiiris : quod est amicorum, ante dicere ea, quae vitari pofsunt : 
quae si facta non erunt, refelletur oratio mea. Loquor de legi- 
bus promulgatis, de quibus est integrum vobis: demonstro vi- 
tia; tollite: denuncio vint, arma; removete. 

XL Irasci vos quidem mihi, Dolabella, pro republica dicenti 
non oportebit; quanquam te quidem id facturum non arbitror: 
noYienipi facilitatem tuam. Collegani tuum aiunt in hac sua 
fort una quae bona ipsi videtur: mihi, ne gravius quidpiam dicam,' 
( 14 ) avorum et avunculi sui consulatum si imitaretur, fortunatior 
videretur: seel eum iracundum audio efse factum. Video au- • 
tern, quam sit odiosum habere iratum eundem et armatum, cum 
tanta praesertim gladiorum sit impunitas: sed proponam jus, ut 
©pinor, aequuni; quod M. Antonium non arbitror repudiaturum. 
Ego, si quid in vitam ejus aut in mores cum contumelia dixero, 
quo minus mihi inim^cifsimus sit, non recusabo ; sin consuetu- 
di'nem meam [quam semper in republica habui] tenuero, id est, 
si libere, quae sentiam, de republica dixero," primum deprecor, 
ne irascatur: deinde, si hoc non impetro, peto, ut sic irascatur, 
ut civi : armis utatur, si ita necefse est, ut dicit, sui defeno'endi 
causa : iis qui pro republ. quae ipsis visa erunt, dixerint, ista 
arnta ne noceant. Quid hac postulatione dici potest aequius? 
(&iod, si, ut a quibusdam mihi ejus familiaribus dictum est, omnis 
etiD), quae habetur contra voluntatem ejus, oratio gravker-offen- 
dit, etiamsi nulla inest contumelia, feremus amici naturam : sed 
iidem i 11 i ita mecum : Non idem tibi adversario Caesaris licebit, 
Qtfocl Pisoni socero : et simiil aclmonent quiddam > quod cave- 



^S) Consuks populism jure rogaverunt.'] These words appear to have 
been the preamble to all the bills which the Roman people pafsed. 

(24) A'corum et avunculi sui consulatum" si imitaretur .] M. Antony, the 

iled orator, was his grandfather, who fell a victim to ISlarius's 

cruelty : and the uncle here meant, was L. Csesar, who had been consul 

with C. Figulus ; he was a person of -great integrity, and well affected ta 

the state. 



CICERo's 0RATK 

W afraid - 
people. VV i have, 

who Us 
lb lay i 
do you tell 

tution depends, 
antiquated and ridiculou • I 
al! the iivniiK s to it slmi up 
places, as 

shall be law, ahd you 
posing the following legal form ol 
consuls inform require (n 

uch consent v ed from < 

people in form 

ided. By what right? is it by that whi< 
by force and arms? And this 
happen; as it is the part of a friend to 
wnatmay.be avoided: if the tin; 
speech will be confuted. 1 speak of the la\ 
hich it is yel in your power to prevent p 
* Its, amend them ; 1 speak of force and 
ma. 

t. XI. Yon must not bo : 
speaking in my country's causey though, jncta 
you will, for I know yoiir gobd-nat'uri 
colleague, in this his good forum 
me, not to make use of a bar her exprefsion, 
more fortunate, were he to imitate tn 
and ancestors; but they toll me that he is i 
how undesirable athing it is that a man 

ised and armed, espcciall . 
punity. But I will propose wha 
sonable; and this, I imagine, Antony will not 
or character, let him bfec 
< . :m ; but if I 

done, I beg, in I 
ngry ; m the next, if h 

' i 
■ ry for the defence of his p 
not these arms injure I 

ic" of his 



h'lO M. T» CICERONIS ORATIONE^ 

bhnus; nee eritjustior, P. C. in senatum non veniendi motfci 
Causa, quam mortis. 

XII. Sed, per deos imm'or'talcs! te eriim intuens, Dolabella^ 
qui es mihi carifsimus, ( iS ) nompofsum de 'latriusq'ue vestrutn er- 
rb're reficere. Credo enitn vos homines nobiles, magna quaedam 
spectantes, non pecuniam, ut quidam nimis creduli suspicantury 
qua) semper ab ampliisimo quoque clarifsimoque content] pta est ; 
non opes violentas, et populo Romano minime ferendam poten- 
tium, sed caritatem eivium, et gloriam eoncupiise ; est autem 
gloria iaus recte facto rum, magnoi'umque in rempublicam meri- 
torum, quae cum dptimi eujusjque, turn etiam nmkitudinis testi- 
monio comprobatur. Dicerem, Dolabella, qui recte facto- 
rum fru'etus efset, nisi te prueter caeteros paulisper efse expertum 
viderem. Quern potes recordari in vita tibi illuxiise diem lvetic- 
l'em, quam cum, ( 26 ) expiato foro, difsipato concursuimpiorum, 
principibus sceiens poena ariectis>, urbe inceudio et cacdis metu 
jiberata, te domum recepisti ? cujus ordinis,. cuius generis, cu- 
jus denique fortume studia turn laudi, et gratulationi tuae non 
obtulcrunt ? Quito mihi etiam, quo auctore te in iis rebus uti ar- 
bitrabantur, et gratias boni viri agebant, et tuo nomine gratu- 
kbantur. Ilecordate, quaso, Dblabella, consensuni ilium thea- 
tri, cum omnes earuxn rerum obliti, (* 7 ) propter quas tibi fue- 
lantoffensi, significarunt se beneficio novo* memoriam veteris do- 
loris abjecil'se. Hanc tu, P. Dolabella, (magno loquor cum do- 
lore,) banc tu, inquam, ( l8 ) potuisti aequo sinimo tantam digni- 
tatem depone re ? 

'XIII. Tu autem, M. Antoni, (absentetn enitn appello,) 
( l 9)unnm ilium diem, quoin a:de Telltfrisse-iatusluit, nonomni- 



(?j) JS'on pofsum de utri usque vesirum errore reticere."] Our orator's ad- 
drrrs.to Antony and Dolabella is extremely pathetic, and contains some 
noble ana! exalted sentiments. The path to true glory is so clearly pointed 
out, together with the substantial satisfactions arising from tlie pursuit of it, 
that one is apt, at first, to wonder how it could fail to produce come good 
effect. But a little reflection on human life and characters will be sufficient 
to convince us, that the dictates of reason, and the soundest mas 
philosophy, even when drefsed out in the brightest colours of eloquence, 
make but alight imprefsions upon a mind under the habitual influence of 
ambition and vitious prejudices. 

r26) Expiato for 0.] This refers to the demolition of the pillar mentioned 
above, Which was matter of so great joy to the city, that the whole body 
of the people attended Dolabella to his house, and in the tiireatres gave 
hiin the usual testimony of their thanks, bv the loudest acclamations. 

.(X J 7) Propter ai/as tibi /iterant f'Jfensi."] in the year of Rome 70t>, Dola- 
bella had, by the fiction of an adoption into a plebeian family, obtained the 
tribunate, and raised great tumults and disorders in Rome, by a law, which 
he published, to expunge all debts. This was a source of no small airlic- 
tion to his father-in-law Cicero, who complains- heavily of it, in m< 
his letters to Atticus. 



fclDERO's ORATIONS, 571 

law. They likewise admonish me of something which I shall 
guard against; nor shall sickuefs, conscript lathers, be a better 
excuse for not attending this house, than death. 

Sect. XII. But) by the immortal gods! while I behold vou, 
Dolabefla, for whom I have the tendercst regard, 1 cannot' lot- 
bear mentioning the errors of you both. For I take you to be 
men of noble and exalted views, whose aim, as some who are too 
credulous suspect, is not money, which the great and illustrious 
always despise, nor a formidable interest, nor power intolerable 
to Rome ; but the Jove of your fellow-citizens and glory* Now, 
true glory is the praise attending virtuous actions, "and eminent 
iservices performed for our country, confirmed by the voice of 
every gOod man, and by that of the public. I would here, Do- 
labella, mention the fruits of virtuous actions, did I not know 
that you have tasted a few of them. Can you recollect that any 
day of your life has given you greater pleasure than that on 
Which you retired to your own house, after having expiated the 
forum, scattered the afsembly of the wicked, punished the ring- 
leaders of iniquity, and delivered the city from all apprehensions 
of flames and slaughter? What rank, what condition, what 
Station did not, with the warmest zeal, applaud and congratu- 
late you ? Even I, by whose advice these actions were thought 
to have been performed, received the thanks of the worthy 
upon that occasion, and was complimented on your succels. 
Call to mind, I beseech you, Dolabella, that applause of the 
theatre, when all men, forgetting what you had done to offend 
them i declared that your late services had made them forgive 
your past conduct. Can you, Dolabella, (with deep concern I 
speak it;) can you, I say, patiently relinquish such dis- 
tinguished honour ? 

Sect. XIII. And do not you, Mark Antony, (for I speak to you 
though absent,) prefer that one day when the senate met in the 
temple of Tellus, to all those months during which some, who 

(28) Animb <equo poiuisti tarttam dignitatem deponere f\ Dolabella hav- 
ing been long opprefsed with the load of his debts, which he had con- 
tracted by a life of pleasure and expense, was drawn entirely from Cicero 
and the republican party, into Antony's measures, by a large sum of mo- 
ney, and the promise of a share in the plunder of the empire. He left 
Home before the expiration of his consulship, to take pofsefsiou of Syria, 
which had been allotted to him by Antony's management ; and upon the 
news of his putting Trebonius to death, was declared a public enemy, and 
his estate confiscated. He killed himself at last, at Laodicea, to prevent 
his falling alive into the hands of Cafskis, and suffering the same treatment 
which he had shown to Trebonius. 

(29) Unum ilium diem.~\ The third, to wit, after Caesar's death, whqn 
Antony summoned the senate, to adjust the ©onditions of peace, and con- 
firm them by some solemn act. 

J Oo2 



&V& , M. Ti CICERONIS ORAf IONES, 

bus iismensibus, quibus te quidam, multam a me difsentient 

turn putant .anteponis? qua? fuit oratio de eoncordia? quanta 
metu veterani, <nuanta solicitudine ei vitas turn a te liberata est? 
Tmmi colle&am, ( : °J depositis inuiiicitiis, oblkusauspicia, teipsc 
a&gure nunciante, i!io primum dve eoliegam tabi else voiuisti; 
.?eip. tuns parvulus fib us in capitobum a te miisus paeis obses 
'tub: quo senatus die ia>fcior? quo popubis Roman us? qui qui- 
dem nulla in condone miquam frequentibr imt: denique libe- 
lati per vires fortifsimos viciebamur: quia, ut illi voluerant, liber- 
al p&% consequebatur. Proximo, akero, rebquis eonsecutis 
diebus- non intermittebas quasi donuin aliquod quotidie adferre. 
reipubiicas: maximum autem illud, quod dictaturye n-omen sustu- 
listi ; bae ihusta'esfe a te, a te, inquam, m-srtuo Caesari nota ad 
ij>nominiam sempiternam. Ut enim (5'} propter uc-ius M. Alanlii 
seeing, decreto gentis Aianlia 1 , neminem patrieium M. Manlium 
"vocari beet: sk tu propter unius dictaioris odium, nomen dicta- 
toris fund-itirs sustulisti. Nutn bnjusee, cum pro salute reipubl-i- 
eye t-anta geisiises, fortuna- te, num ampbtudinis, nam claritatis,- 
luun g4on?e poenitebat ? Untie igitur subito-tanta ista mutatio ? 'non 
pofsum ackkici, utsuspicerte pecunia captum: lieet, quod cuique 
libet, loquatur; credere non est necefse, nibil enim unquam m 
te v sordidttni, nihil huniile cognovi: ( u ) quanquani soient domes- 
tici depravare nonnunquam; sed novi firmitatem tuam ; atque 
utinain ut culpani, sic etiam suspicionem vitare potuifses. 

XIV. -'Illud uiagis vereor, ne ignorans verum iter glorise, 
gjoriosum putes, plus te unum poLe quam omnes, ct nietui a 
civibus tuis, quam diligi malis. Quod si ita putas, totam ig- 
'"ti-oras via m gloria?. Carum else civem, bene de republica me- 
reri,iandari, cob, diligi, gioriosum est; metui vero, et in odio 
efse,' inviliosiun, detestabiie, imbecillum, eaducum. ( 33 ) Quod 
videmus etiam in tabula, ipsi illi, qui oderint dum metuant dix- 
erifc, per'njeipsiim fnifse. Utinam, Anton? , arum tiuirn memi- 
nilses": ■ ' amen multa audi'sti ex me, eaque saepifettne. 

Putasno ilium immOrtalitatem mereri voluifse, ut propter armo- 
rum 'atb'-atLruivi bcontiam metueretur? ilia erat vita, illasecun- 
da ioftuua, libcrrate else, parem c&teris, principem dignitate, 
i'-i-jne, ut omirtam res avi tui prosperas, aceroibamum ejus diem 
. s sq)rennim mrdim, fjuam L. Cinnye dominatimi, a quo ille 

(30) Depositis inimicitiis, cblitus aiispiciorum.~\ Antony had been jealous 
of Do label k;, as a rival in Caesar's tavcur ; and .when Caesar promised to 
usign the consulship to Dolabeila, before-he went to the Parthian war, 
Antony protested, that by his authority as augur, lie .would disturb that 
election, whenever it should be attempted. 

(31) frobier unius 31. Mcmlii scdus.~\ This was the Manlius who had so 
bravely (lete'ntled the capitol when besieged by the Gauls; but being SUS- 
peciect of alTccling regal aiithority, was afterwards thrown off iheTarpeiaa 
reek into the Tiber. 

(3'J) Qftanijidm solevf. d&rnes'titi depravare jionnwiquam.'] Cicero here 
hints at the avarice of Fulvia, Antony's wife'. 

(33) Quod t-idemus etiam in/dbulu, &c] A saying frequently made use of 
by AcciuS; the poet, in his tragedy of Aire^is, i 



CICERo's ORAi : 



think very dilTorc ntly from i 
you then made about i 
you then deliver the vi 
On that day, lave. 
and acting yoi 
league should be you r col 
your own farads into t ; 
there ever a day of gri 
the people of Rouic > Was 
that? It was then we \ 

because, as they intended,. peace foH»\v»d our 
next, I 'wing, the third, and 

never failed to make some 

but the greatest of ail was Your abolishing t • 
TittS was an indelible infam 
memory of Grsar; tor, as on account of the • 
son, named Marcus Maulms, by a decree of : 
?io patrician can bear that name; so you, on aceoun 
detestation of one dictator, have utter! y ab< 
When you had done such great tiling -; Hjr 
you difsatislied with the fortune, the dignitv, tin: renown, 
glory you had acquired f whence then I 
change? I can never suspect that you ate im. 
let every man speak as be pleases- there is no n 
, lieve him: but I never knew you guilty of any t!m; 
mean or dirty. Domestics, UgeV feed, are wont so. 
rupt their masters; but I know your hrmnefs; and I 
would be as free from suspicion as you are from guilt. 

Sect. XIV. I am more afraid of this, lest, mi v. 
path to glory, you'should think it glorious to be 
yourself than ail men besides; and c'ao<> 
than loved, by your fellow-citizens. But ii I 
timents, you wholly mistake the road to g!o. 
our countrymen, to deserve well of the state, to be pi 
spected, and beloved, is truly glorious; but to be div 
held in abhorrence, is odious, detestable, we 
We find even in the play, that to the man vvl|i 
while they fear, the maxim proved fatal. 1 wish, 
would call to mind your grandfather, of whom you h 
ine make sue!) frequent mention. Do you thiuK that 
have been desirous of purchasing ii 
of being the dreaded master of lawlefs arms? !'. 
his prosperity this, in liberty' to be equal, m u 1 
others. To omit, therefore, the prosperous eircuo 
your grandfather's life, I would choose Ins lal 
it was, rather than China s lawlefs power, 

V 



574 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

crudelifsime est interfectus. Sed quid oratione te fiectam ? si 
e.nim exitus C. Caesaris efficere non potest, ut malis carus efse, 
quam metui, nihil cujusquam proficiet, nee valebit oratio ; quern 
qui beatum fuifse putant, miserrimi ipsi sunt. Beatus est nemo, 
qui ea lege vivit, ut non modo impune, sed etiam cum summa 
mterfectoris gloria, interfici ppfsit. Quare flecte te, quaeso, et 
majores tuos respice, atque ita guberna rempublicam, ut natum 
te efse cives tui gaudeant ; sine quo nee beatus, nee clarus quis- 
quam efse potest. 

XV. Et ( 3 +) populi quidem Romani judicia multa ambo habe- 
tis, quibus vos non satis moveri permoleste fero. Quid enim 
gladiatoribus clamores innumerabilium civium? quid populi con- 
cursus? quid Pompeii status plausus infiniti? ( iS ) quid duobus 
tribunis plebis qui vobis adversantur? parum-ne hacc significant 
incredibiliter consentientem populi Romani universi voluntatemi 
( 36 ) Quid? Apollinaribus ludis plausus, vel testimonia potius, et 
judicia populi Romani vobis parva efse videbantur? O beatos 
illos, qui, cum adefse ipsis propter vim armorum non licebat, 
aderant tamen, et in medullis populi Romani ac visceribus haere- 
bant! nisi forte Accio turn plaudi, et sexagesimo post anno pal- 
man dari putabatis, non Bruto ; qui suis ludis ita caruit, ut in illo 
apparatifsimo spectaculo studium populus Romanus tribuerit ab- 
senti, desiderium liberatoris sui perpetuo plausu et clamore le- 
merit. Equidem is sum, qui istos plausus, cum a popularibus 
civibustribuerentur, semper contempserim : idemque cum a 
summis, mediis, insimis, cum denique ab universis hoc idem fit; 
cumque ii, qui ante sequi populi consensum solebant, fugiunt; 
non plausum iilum, seel judicium puto. Sin haec leviora vobis 
videntmy quae sunt gravifsima, num etiam hoc contemnitis, 
quod sensistis ( 3? ) tarn caram populo Romano vitam A. Hirtii 
luifse? satis enim erat, probatum ilium efse populo Romano, ut 
est: jucundum amicis, in quo vincit omnes: carum suis, quibus 

. — -t— ■ j ' — t I " ' ! : — — » — ' 

(34) Populi quidem Romani judicia multa ambo habetis.] The violences 
committed at Home after Caesar's death, were not owing to the general in- 
.diguation of the citizens against the murderers of Ciesar; no, the memory 
of the tyrant was odious, and Brutus and Cafsius, the real favourites of the 
city, as appeared on all occasions, wherever their free and genuine sense 
could be declared; particularly from their acclamations at the shows of 
•gladiators exhibited by Brutus, and the repairing of Pompey's statue, which 
had been thrown down in the civil wars. 

(35) Quid duobus tribunis plebis,] These two tribunes were Tiberius Canu- 
tius and Nonius Aspernas; the latter of whom opposed Dolabella in his 
suit for the province of Syria; and the former set up Octavius, in opposi- 
tion to Antony. 

(36) Quid Apol/inaribus ludis plausus.'] Brutus and Cafsius were obliged, 
as proetdrs, to exhibit certain games in honour j?f Apollo, with which the 
public were annually entertained on the third of July: but as they had 
withdrawn themselves from Home, these games were conducted by the, 
brother of Cafsius. : "* 

(37) Tarn caram populo Roimmo -Alain A. Hirtii fuifse.] Hirtius was then 
consul elect, and happening to fall sick, the Roman people put up vows 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

most inhumanly murdered. But why do I endeavour to n 
you by words? If Cesar's fate is nut a wan, 
much better it is to be loved than feared, no mi 
avail any thing. As for those who imagine thai 
happy, they are themselves most miserable. No man 
happy, who holds life on such terms that it may be taki 
him, not only with impunity, but with praise. Relent 
fore, 1 beseech you ; look back on voitf ancestors j and 
vern the state, that your fellow-citizens may blefs the di 
gave you birth ; without which no man can be happy or glorid 

Sect. XV. Both of you have had many proofs of the senti- 
ments of the people of Home, which 1 am sorry to see you not 
sufficiently affected with : for what else were the shout', of in- 
numerable citizens, at the shows of gladiators ? what the con- 
course of the people? what the inecisant applauses pumvd out 
on Pompey's statue, and on the two tribunes who i ott? 

Do not these things sufficiently declare the incredible UDamm 
of the whole Roman people? What! did the shouts, or rather 
the testimony and judgment of the Romans at the games of 
Apollo, seem little in your eyes? Happy those who, when they 
£ould Hot be present in person, on account of an armed fori 
were nevertfeelefs present, and clung to the very marrow and 
bowels of the Roman people ! unlets, perhaps, you think that 
the applause and the palm was conferred on Ajccius, sixty year* 
after his death, and not on Brutus; who, though not personally 
present at his own shows, yet in that most magnificent enter- 
tainment, received the most affectionate wishes o1 the Ryinajj 
people, who mitigated their sorrow for the absence of their de- 
liverer by uninterrupted applauses and acclamations. I, inched, 
am one of those who have ever despised these acclamations. 
when bestowed by the populace : but when they are bestowed 
}>y the highest, the middlemost, and the lowest ranks, in short, 
by the whole collective body; especially when those who were 
wont to court the applause of the people, are forced to hide 
their heads; ; this I term not applause, but approbation. But 
if these things seem trivial to you, which are-, in fact, of tbe 
highest importance, will you likewise despise the proof you 
had, how dear the life of A. Hirtius was to the people of Rome? 
It was sufficient to him that he was approved by the Roman 
people, as he still is agreeable to his friends, in which respect 
he exceeds all men ; dear to his own family, to whom he is 



for his recovery, as for a person on whom depended the safety of the state. 
This was the Hirtius who was afterwards slain at Modena, and v.!. 
xleath, joined with that of his colleague, is thought to have been of such 
fatal consequence to Rome. 

P o 4 



67a m. t. cicerqnis oratig^es, 

est ipse carifsimus : tantam tamen solicitudinem boqqrum, tan^ 
turn timorem omnium in quo merninimus ? certe in nullo. Quid 
igitur ? hoc vos, per deos irnmortales, quale sit, non interpreta.- 
min.i ?■ quid eos de vestra vita cogitare censetis, quibus eorum, 
quos sperant reipublicse consulturos, vita tam cara sit ? Cepi 
fructum, P. C. reversionis meae : quoniam ea et dixi, ut, qui- 
cunque casus consecutus efset^ exstaret constantiae meae testimo- 
nium : et sum a vobis benigne ac diligenter auditus. Quae po- 
testas si mihi ssepius sine meo vestroque periculo net, utar : si 
minus, quantum potero, non tam mihi me, quam reipublicae 
reservabo. Mihi fere satis est, quod vixi, vel ad aetatem, vel 
ad gloriam : hue si quid accefserit, non tam mihi quam vobis, 
reique publicae accefseritc 



CICERO's ORATK. 577 

so in the highest degree ; but when have 

of good men, and the concern of all, 

for him? never, surely, How then, unniort.il g 

at a lofswhat construction to put up 

gine thev think of your lives, to vvriom I 

dear, who, they flatter. tliemsch 

their country? I have now, conscript fathe 

fruit of my return ; as \ ha\ 

be a proof of my constancy, and have i 

tentively heard by you ; an indu 

lean do it with safety to myself and you; if not, 1 shall r 

myself as well as 1 can, not so much for m> 

that of the republic. I have lived aime 

ture or for glory; if any addition is made to eitl 

tage shall not be so much mine, as yours and my count) , 



ORATIO XVI. 



IN M. ANTONIUM PHILIPPICARUM*. 

PHILIPPICA SECUNDA. 



L /^\UONAM meo fato, P.'C. fieri dicam, ( T ),ut nemo his 
\^£ annos viginti reipublicae hostis fuerit, qui non bellumeo- 
eem tempore mini qnoque indixerit ? Nee vero necefse est a. me 
quenquam nominari vobis, cum. ipsi recordamini ; mihi poena- 
rum ilii plus, quam optarem, dederunt. Te miror, Antoni, 
quorum facta imitere, eorum exitus non perhorrescere. Atque 
hoc in aliis minus mirabar ; nemo illorum inimicus mihi ink 
voluntarius : omnes a me reipublicae causa lacefsiti ;' tu,ne verbo 
quidem violatus, ut audacior quam L. Catilina, furiosior quam 
P. Clodius videnere, ultro maledictis me lacefsisti ; tuamque a 
me alieuationem commendationem tibi ad cives impios fore 
putavisti. Quid putem ? contemptum-ne me? non video nee 
in vita, nee in gratia, nee in rebus gestis, nee in hac mea 
niediocritate ingenii, quid despicere pofsit Antonius. An in 
senatu facillime de me detrabi pofse credidit ? qui ordo clarifsi- 
inis civibus bene gestee reipublicge testimonium multis, mihi uni 
eonsevvatps dedit. An decertare mecum voluit conlentione 
dicendi ? hoc quidem beneficium est ; quid enim plenius, quid 
mberius, quam mihi et pro me, et contra Antoniuni dicere? 



* Antony, being highly exasperated at the preceding speech, summoned 
another meeting ot the senate, where he again required Cicero's attendance, 
feeing resolved to answer him in person, and justify his own conduct. The 
reuate met on the appointed day, in the temple of Concord, whither An- 
tony came with a strong guard, and in great expectation of meetino; Cicero, 
whom he had endeavoured by artifice to draw thither; but though Cicero 
Irimself was ready, and desirous to go, yet his friends over-ruled, and kept 
Iritis at home, being apprehensive of some design intended against his life. 
Antony'?' speech confirmed their apprehensions, in which he poured out the 
ovevllo wings of his spleen with such fury against him, that Cicero, alluding 
U) what he had done a little before in pulilic ? says, that he seemed once 
more rather to sp--w, than to speak.' As a breach with Antony was now 
tnevitaUle, Cicero thought it necefsary, for his security, to remove to 
some of his villas near" Naples ; where he composed this oration, by 
way of reply to Antony; not delivered in the senate, as the tenour of 
i*. seems to imply, but finished in the co x u/itry ; nor intended to be 



ORATION XVI 



THE SECOND AGAINST M. ANTONY. 



^ 



Sect. I. TQY what singular fate of mine, conscripl 

J3 I say it comes to pal's, that for tk 
there has not been an enemy to the public, who has not at the 
same time declared war also against Die ? It is una* t ur- 

ine to mention their names, since you yourselv dv 

recollect them : their punishment has been m<> 
I could have wished. I am surprised, Antony, that you do not 
dread their fate, as you imitate their conduct. This, in others, 
however, I lefs wondered at; for not one of them chose to be 
my enemy; all of them were attacked by me, for the saL 
the state. But you, without even the provocation of wo 
that you may appear more audacious than Catiline, and men 
furious than Clodius, have, of your own accord, fallen upon me 
with your calumnies, and thought a breaking with me would be 
a recommendation to profligate citizens. What am I to think 
of this? that I am despised ? I see nothing in my life, nor in niv 
reputation, nor in my actions, nor in my capacity, small 
it is, that Antony can despise. Did he imagine the se<. 
was the properest place for making a succefsful attack upon my 
character? an afsembly which has conferred on many ill 
trious citizens the praise of having done great things for the 
state, but on me alone that of having saved it. Had he a mind to 
contend with me in eloquence? this is, indeed, doing me a kind- 
nefs : for what more copious, what more fertile subject can I have 



published till things were actually come to an extremity, and the occasions 
of the republic made it necefsary to render Antony's character and de- 
signs as odious as pofsible to the people. It is a most bitter mvecti 
his whole life, describing it as a perpetual scene of lewdnrls faction 
lence, and rapine, heightened with all tbe colours ot wit ana elomji 
and shows, that in the' decline of life, Cicero had lost no share of that lire 
and spirit with which his earlier productions are animated. , 

m Ul nemo his annos viginti."\ viz. Ever since his consulship dunnp all 
hich time he had been continually haiafsed with the Clodiau and UU- 



Hnarian factions. 



580 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONESc 

Illud profecto est; non existimavit sui similibus probari pofse, 
se efse hostem patrifee, nisi mihi efset inimicus. Cui priusquaiu 
tie eajteris rebus respondeo, de ainicitia, quam a me vioiatam 
ei'se crhninatus est, quod ego gTavUsimum crimen judico, pauca 
dieam. 

II. Contra rem suain me, nescio quando, veniise questus est. 
( 2 ) An ego non venirem contra alienum pro familiari et ne- 
ceisario meo ? non venirem contra gratiam, non virtutis spe, aed 
setatis fiore collectam? non venirem contra injuriam, quam iste 
intercefsoris nequiisimi beneficio obtinuit, non jure praptorio f 
Sed hoc idcirco commemoratum a te puto, ut te infimo ordihi 
connuendares ; cum omnes te recordarentur libertini generum, 
et liberos tuos, nepotes Q,. Fadii, ljbertini hominis, fuifse. At 
enim te in disciplinam meam tradideras, (nam ita dixisti;) do- 
mum niea-m- ventitaras : nsB tu, si id fecifses, melius f'amre, me- 
lius pud i cit m tuos consul uifses : sed nee fecisti, nee si enperes, 
tibi'id ( 3 ) per C. Curionem facere licuifset. Auguratus peti- 
tionem mi'hi te concefsii'se dixisti. O incredifeilem audacium ! 
6 impudeul'iam praedicandam ! Quo. enim tempore me augurem, 
( 4 ) a toto collegio expetitum Cn, Pompeiuset Q. Hortensiusno- 
minaverunt (neque enim iicebat a pluribus nominari,) nee tu 
golvendo eras, nee te ullo modo, nisi evcrsa republica, incolu- 
mem fore putabas. Poteras autem eo tempore auguratum pe- 
tere, cum in Italia Curio non efset? aut turn, cum es factus, 
unam tribum sine Curione ferre potuifses? cujus etiam fam 
pares de vi condemnati sunt^ quod tui nimis stqdiosi fuifsent. 

III. At beneiicio sum iisus tuo ; quo ? quanquam illud ipsiim, 
quod cqmmemoras, semper prap me tuli. Maiui me tibi debere 
conikeri, quam cuiquam minus prudenti non satis gratus 

— _: r _^. .- ■ ■■■- .■■ ■ , -■ ;.,, ::■ - .: . . ■■ -V ■' ■ ". -^ = r^ -•■--«■■■--.--. __ ^-. - - ' ■ = 

(2} An ego non venirem contra alienum pro familiari et necefsaria meo ?] 
Who this friend was, does not appear; but the stranger hinted at, was 
Q. . Fadius Bombalio, the f reed-man, whose daughter Antony had married. 

(3) Per C. Curionem.']' Curio was a young nobleman of shining parts ; 
admirably formed by nature to adorn that character, in which his father 
and grandfather had flourished before him, of one of the principal orators 
of Rome ; but a natural propensity to pleasure, stimulated by the example 
ancf counsels of his perpetual companion Antony, hurried him into all the 
extravagance of expense and debauchery. When his father, by Cicero's 
advice, obliged him to quit the familiarity of Antony, he reformed his con- 
duct, and, adhering to the instructions and maxims of Cicero, became the 
favourite of the city ■; the kader of the young nobility; and a warm as- 
sertor of the authority of the senate, against the power of the triumvirate. 
After his father's death, upon his first taste of public honours, and admifsion 
into the senate, his ambition and thirst of popularity engaged him in so 
immense a prodigality, that, to supply the magnificence of his shows and 
plays, with whicji he entertained the city, he was soon driven to the ne- 
cefsity of selling himself to Caesar, and fell the first victim in the civil. war. 

(4} A ioto collegio expetitum, Cn, Pompeius.et Q. Hortensius nomineqoenmU]' 
The priests of all kinds were originally chosen at Rome by their colleges, till 
Domitius, a tribune, transferred the choice of them to the people, whose 



cicero's orations. Jg| 

than that of speaking for m 
certainty hwdesigri; he thought, that to men of I 

mid not approve. himsell a leu- to In 
tame thy enemy. BefoTf I 
briefly on oar friendship, whi< h 
an accusation, in my opini 

r. II. He eompl.iins that I appeal 
a^unst his interest. Ought I not to h 
arranger, in favour of my Wicnd and kinsm 

■ami against a |fe 
virtue, but at the ;,fuj blooi , • 

I again** an injury comra 
tialijty of an infamous tribune, and not the d< 
tor? But this, I fancy, you mentioi.t-d, i 
yourself to the lowest rank ol' the pi 
to all, that you yourself ate Bon-m-J 
a slave, and that your children are I 
dins, who had been a slave. Bui 
direction, (for that was ^dtu* exprefsion;) y< 
house. Had you done that, indeed, \ouri 
morals had been more free from blemish. Bi 
it, nor, had you been inclined, would Curio have perm 
You alleged tiiat you quitted your pretensions to I 
in my favour. Incredible afsurame! astOfti 
At the time when Cn. Pompey and Q. Ho d me 

augur, (for two only could doit,) al .hole 

college, you was not able to pay your debtt, nor had 
hopes of safety but in the subversion i 
But could you stand for the augur ship when Curio svi 
Italy? or when created augur, could you ha, 
tribe, had it not been for Curio r an 
dieted of violence, because they wen in \ tan i 

Sect. III. But I have been obliged to you ; 
you ? though I have been alu 
very circumstance which you mention as an ol 
rather to coufefs myself obliged to you, than 



authority was held- to be supreme in sacred, a 

act was reversed by Sylla, arid the air; 

but Lahienus, when tribune, in (' 

Domitius, to facilitate C 

was neceisary, however, that every candidate slioul 

people by two augurs, who gave a soJen, 

ni ty and fitnefs for the office: this was done in C 

and Hortensius, the two most eminent memb 

the election, he was instalkd'with all the usual form 



532 m. t, ciceronts orationes; 

videri; sed quo beneficio? quod me Brundusii non occicferisf 
quern ipse victor, qui tibi, ut'tute gloriari solebas, (■*) detulerat 
ex latronibus suis principatum, salvuru efse voluifset, in Italian* 
ire juisiisct, eum tu oecideres? Fac potuifse; quod est aliud, 
P. C. beneficium latronum, nisi ut commemorare pofsint, iis se 
vitazn aediise, quibus non ademerint ? Quod si efset beneficium, 
nunquam ii, qui ilium interfecerunt, a. quo erant servati, quos 
tu ipse viros clarifsimos appeliare soles, tantam efsent gloriam 
ccnsecuti. Quale autetn beneficium est, quod te abstinueris 
neiario scelere r qua in re non tarn jucunduni videri mini debuit, 
non interfectum a te, quam miserum, id te impune facere po- 
tuifse. Sed sit beneficium, quandoquidem majus aceipi alatrone 
nullum potuit, in quo potes me dicere ingratum ? an de interitu 
reipublicae queri non debui, ne in te ingratus viderer ? At in 
ilia querela misera quidem et luctuosa, sed mihi pro hoc gradu, 
in quo me senatus populusque Romanus eollocavit, necelsaria* 
quid est dictum a me cam contumelia ? quid non moderate? 
quid non amice ? quod quidem cujustemperantiae fuit, deM. An-- 
tonio querentem, abstinere maledicto? ( 6 ) praesertim cum tu re- 
liquias reipublicae difsipavifses ? cum domi tuae turpifsimo mer- 
catu omnia efsent venalia ? cum leges eas, quae nunquam pro- 
mulgate efsent, et de te, et a te latas confiterere? cum auspi- 
cia augur, intercelsionem consul sustulifses ? cum efses fcedifsime 
stipatus armatis ? cum omnes impuritates pudica in domo quo- 
tidie suseiperes, vino lustrisque confectus ? At ego, tanquam 
mihi cum M. Crafso contentio efset, quocum multse et magnae 
iuerunt, non cum uno gladiatore nequifsimo, de rep. graviter 
querens, de homine nihil dixi. Itaque hodie pernciam, ut in- 
telligat quantum a, me beneficium turn acceperit. 

IV. At etiam literas, quas me sibi misifse diceret, recitavit/ 
homo et huinanitatis expers, et vitas communis ignarus. Quis 
enrm unquain, qui paululum modo bonorum consuetudinem 
nofset, literas ad se ab amico mifsas, offensione aliqua interpo- 
sita, in medium protulit, palamque recitavit ? Quid est aliudj 
toileree vita vitae societatem, quam toll ere- amicorum colloquia 
absentium ? quam multa joca soJent efse in epi*tolis, quae prolata 



(5) Detulerat ex Iatronibus suis principatum.] What Cicero here says y 
is equally severe both upon Caesar and upon Antony ; for he insinuates, that 
that war was more properly a robbery than a lawful war. 

(6) Prcesertim ami tu reliquias reipublicce difsipavifses.'] By reliquias rv 
ipublicg is here probably meant the public money laid up in the temple of 
Ops, which Antony claimed to himself, and made subservient to the pur- 
poses of his ambition; or the four thousand talents maybe referred to, 
which Antony got from Cajphurnia, Caesar's wife. 



cicero's orations. 

to any unthinking person. But what was thi 
That you did not murder meat Brundusm: 
you have murdered a man, preserved and n v by 

order or* that very conqueror, who, as you your* 
to boast, had Created you chief of his banditti ; AdpinUiir 
could have done this; what el>e is it, conscript !,. 
favour of robbers, whose language it is, that the) 
of those they do not murder t It then- wi 
this, those whom you used to eall the- 01 
kind, and who killed their preserver, never could have acqi 
so great glory. But what is the merit ot abstaining fron 
eommifsiou ot a most atrocious crime r in which i ought 

not to have been so agreeable to me that 1 was spared by 
as grievous, that you had it in your power to bave muni 
me with impunity. But allowing it to be a favour, lim 
greater can be received at the hands of a robber, in what re 
can you call me ungrateful ? ought 1 not to lament my country's 
ruin, lest I should appear ungrateful to you ? vet in the com- 
plaint I then made, mournful and wretched as it was, though 
unavoidable by me in that station, to which I had b( i n 
by the senate and people of Rome, what was there in the 
abusive? did I not speak with moderation ? did I not speak with 
friendship ? Yet how great must be his temper, who, complain- 
ing of Antony, could abstain from abuse ? especially when you 
had difsipated the remains of the state? when, within vuur 
house, every thing was subject to the most infamous venality } 
when you confefsed that laws relating to yourself, which had 
never been proposed, were pafsed by your means? when, as 
augur, you bad abolished the auspices; and, as consul, the m- 
tercefsion of the tribunes ? when you had been shameful! 
tended by armed men? when, worn out with wine and de- 
bauchery, you committed all manner of lewdneis in a hou 
markable for its purity? But I, a* if I had been contending with 
JV1. Crafsus, with whom I have had many and sharp 
and not with a most infamous gladiator, whilst I griev 
lamented my countrv's ruin, omitted all personal reflections. 
To-day, therefore, I shall t<ke care to make him sensible how- 
great a favour I then conferred upon him. 

Sect. IV. This wretch, void of all politcnefs, and 
even of common decency, publicly read the letters whi( 
says I w r rote to him. For who, that knows ever ^>o little ot 
pafses among men of honour, upon occasion of a Blight qu 
ever exposed and publicly read the letters thai it him 

by his friend to destrov the intercourse of absent frien 
is" it, but to strip life of all its social joys ? How many joke 
there generally in letters, which, if exposed, would ij 



584 to. t. cxcEkoim 6iiAtio^£s. 

si sintj inepta efse videantur? quam malta seria, necjue tamer! 
ttllo modo divulganda? Sit hoc inhumanitatis tuse: stultitiam 
incredibilem videte. Quid babes* quod mihi opponas, homo 
diserte, ( 7 ) ut Mnsteike Tamisio et, 7'ironi Nuraisio Videris ? qui 
cum hoc ipso tempore stent cum glauiis in conspectu senatus, 
ego quoque te disertom putabb, si ostenderis, quo modo sis eos 
inter sicarios defensuriis. 8ed quid opponas tandem, si tfegedi 
me unquam istas literas ad te misifse? quo me teste convincas? 
an chirographo ? in quo habes scientiuiri qiia&stuosam : qui poisis ? 
sunt enim libfarii many.. Jam invideo magistro tuo> qui te 
tanta mercede, quairtam jam proferam, nihil' sapere doceat. 
Quid enim est minus hdh dico oratoris, sed hominis, quam id 
objicere adversario, quod ilie si verho negarit, Iongius progredi 
lion pofsit qui objicerit ? At ego non nego; teoue in isto ipso 
convinco -non inhumanitatis solum, sed etiani amentia^ ; quod 
enim verbam in istis Uteris est ncrh plenum humanitatis, officii, 
benevolentise r Omne autem crimen tuum est, qUod de te id his 
ikeris non male existimem ; quod scribam tauquam ad c'iveiUj 
fanquam ad bonum virum, non eanquam ad sceleratum et iatro- 
nem. (*) At ego tuas lite'ras, etsi jure poteram a te laee'isitus, 
famen non proferam ; quib'as p'etis, ut tibi per me liceat q'uen- 
dam de exsilio reducere ; adjurasque k] te, invito me, non else 
facturum : idque a, me impetras ; quid enim me mterponerem 
audacia3 tuce, quam neque auctoritas hujusordinis, neque existi- 
matio popuii Romani, neque leges uIIsr pofserit coercere ? \[e* 
runtamen quid erat quod me rogare*, si erat is, de quo rogabas^ 
Ceesarislege reductus ? sed videlicet mearn gratiam voluit ei'se ; 
in quo ne ipsius quidem ulla pcterat ei'se, le^e lata. 

V. Sed cum mihi> patres conscripti, et pro me aliquidj et in 
M. Antonium multa dice:: la s'mt ; aiterum peto a vobis, ut me 
pro me dicentem benigne - a'rerum ipse efRciam. ut contra ilium 
eum dicam, attente ati i«!nd oro, si mcam cum in 

omni vita, turn in dic^^l'^ moaeratronem modestiamque cog- 
nostis, ne me hodic, c ovocavit, respc-mlero, 6bfN 

turn else putetis rift racrabo ut consulem ; ne ille quident 

me ut eotisularem : etsi ilfe nulla modo consul, vel quod ita Vi* 
Vit, vel quod ita rem,: rifr. vel quod ita laCtm> &St 



(7) Ut MusieHcE Tamisia cf tffforri ftfhnktio.'] All tfiat we know of these 

me!!, is, that they Ave re fu illiterate i 



qualified only to execute ; 

(8) At &gotm$ UMras.'] Ise letters which he receive 

Antoily, in regard to tiie Btjsfcmrtiou at jclius. bee L-jV 



,ecl from 
AUtcus, B. 14. 



cicero's orations. 

very trifling? bow many serious things, yet by no m< 
divulged? let this suffice for his want of politenefs ; ol 



now 



his incredible stupidity. What have you to object t 
man of eloquence? for sucli you seem to MustellaTan 
Tiro Numisius, who, as they are landing this very moment in 
the sight of the senate with drawn swords in their hand., ,; 
can show why they are not to be ranked among afsafsjns, I too 
shall think you eloquent. But what can you object, H I 

deny that J ever sent you such letters ? by what evident 
convict me? By my hand writing? in this you have a 
dexterity; but how can you do it? for they were written I 
secretary. Now do I hate that tutor of yours, who, thou 
received such great wages, as I shall presently make appea 
not teach you the least wisdom. For what shows lei's, 1 will not 
sav of an orator, but of a reasonable being, than to o 
to an adversary, which if he should deny but upon his bare word, 
the objector Could proceed no farther? Hut I do not deny it; 
and by that very fact I convict you not only of being void 
litenefs, but of common .understanding. For is there a w 
these letters, that is not full of politenefs, good manners, am] 
benevolence? But all your pique is, that in these letters I did 
not show how bad an opinion I had of you, that I wrote to vou 
as a fellow-citizen, and a worthy man, and not as a villain ami a 
robber. Yet I, though the provocation I have received from v 
might justify my doing it, will never expose your letters; in 
which you beg that I would give you leave to recall a certain 
person from banishment, and swear that you will never do it 
without my consent. You obtained your request ; for why should 
1 oppose thy audacious insolence, which neither the authority of 
this afse.mhly, nor the majesty of the Roman people, nor any 
laws can restrain ? But, alter all, why did you beg this of me, if 
the person for whom you interceded, was recalled by Ca 
law? but he had a mind, forsooth, to compliment me; t:; 
as the law was pafscd, no thanks were even due to himself. 

Sect. V. But as I have a great deal to say, conscript fat 
both for myself and against Antony, I must beg or* you, 
while I am" speaking for myself, you would hear me with in- 
dulgence; and when I speak against him, I shall take 
that you hear me with attention. I must farther beg <>; 
that 'as you have known my moderation and decencj , 
the whole tenour of my life, and the course of my plead 
you would not think I forget myself, if 1 answer him to 
according to the provocation he has given me. I will no; 
him as a^consul ; for he has not treated me as consular: th 
he is in no respect consul, either as to his life, his admmisti 
or the manner in which he was created; but I, i> 
dispute, consular. That you may understand, then, 



5S6 M. T. CICEROKIS ORATIONES. 

foonsul] ; ego sine ull& controversial consularis. Ut igitur in- 
Uslligeretis, qualenripse se consulem profitetur, objecit mihi con- 
sulatum meum ; qui consulatus, verbo/neus, P. C. re vester 
fuit; quid enicu constitni, quid gefsi, quid egi, nisi ex huju's or- 
dinis consilio, auctorjtate, setitentia ? Haec tu homo sapiens, non 
solum eloquens, apud eos, quorum consilio sapientiaque ges'ta 
sunt, ausus es vituperare ? Quis autem meum consulatum, prae- 
tier P. Clodium, qui vituperaret, inventus est? ( 9 ) cujus quidem 
tibi latum, sicuti C. Curioni, manet: ( I0 ) quoniam id domi ttue 
est, quod fait iilorum utrique fatale. Non placet M. Antonio 
■consulatus' metis : at placuit P. Servilio, ut eum primum nomi- 
ncmcx illius tempbns consularibus, qui proximo est mortuus: 
placuit Q.. Lutatio Catulo, cujus semper in hac republica vivit 
iiiictoritas: placuit duobus Lucullis, M. Crafso, Q. Hortensio, 
C. Curioni, M. Lepido, C. Pisoni, M. Glabrioni, L. Vplcatro, 
C. Figulo, D. Silano, L. Muraense, qui tum.erant consules de- 
signati: (") placuit idem, quod consularibus, M. Catoni ; qui 
cum multa, vita excederis, providit, turn quod te consulem non 
vidit. Maxime vero consulatum meum Cn. Pompeius probavit ; 
qui ut me primum decedensex Svria vidit, complexus et gratu- 
lans, meo benefieio patriam se visurum efse dixit. Sed quid sin- 
gulos commemoro ? frequentifsimo senatui sic placuit, ut efset 
nemo, qui non mihi ut parenti gratias ageret, qui non mihi vitam 
suam, liberos, fortunas, rempublicam referret acceptam. 

VI. Sed quoniam illis, quos nominavi, tot et talibus viris res- 
publica orba.a est, veniamus ad vivos, qui duo e consulari nu- 
mero reliqui sunt. L. Cotta, vir summo ingenio, summaque 
prudentia, rebus lis gestis, quas tu reprehendis, supplicationem 
ciecrevit verbis amplifsimis : eique illi, quos modo nominavi, 
consulares, se.natusque cunctus alsensus est ; qui honos post con- 
drtain banc urbem habitus est togato ante me neminj. L. Caesar, 
aviincufus tuns, qua oratione, qua constantia, qua gravitate 
sentential!) dixit ('■*) in sororis suae virum, vitricum tuum? 
nunc tu- cum. auctorem, et praeceptorem omnium consilio- 
rum, totiusque v'itse debuifses habere, vitrici te sf milem, 



(9) Cujus qvtdem tibijatum, sicufi C Curioui manet.] Curio, having driven 
Calo out dtSicUy, marched with the best part of four legions into Africa 
against Varus, who, strengthened by the conjunction of Juba, had reduced 
the whole province to his obedience. Upon his landing, he met with some 
success, but was afterwards entirely defeated and slam near the river 
Basra ctii, by Sabura, Juba's general/ 

(■0) Quoniam id domi hue est, quod fuit iilorum utrique fatale. .] Meaning 
Fuhia, who was first married to Clodius, concerning whom see the oration 
•ggeinst Milo; next, to Curio, above mentioned ;aiid lastly, to Antony. 

"(II) Placuit idnn, quod consularibus, M. Catoni.'] Marcus Cato, other- 
wise Cticensis, never rose higher than the pra?tofship ; and for that reason, 
is not. ranked here among those of consular dignity. 

(12) In sororis, suet virum, vitricum tuum.'] Antony's mother, Julia, was 
Bitter to Lucius Caesar; after thedeatL )f Antony's father, she married Leu- 
5 



of a consul he profefses himself, he objects I » I 
a consulate, conscript fathers, which was nominal! 
m fact yoms: for what did I ordain, wh; I 
what execute, but by the advice, authority and d< i 
atsembly? And hast thou the afsurance, wise and do 
thou art, to reproach me with my conduct, in 1 1 i. 
those verv persons by whose counsels and wisdom il 
l.jted ? Who ever blamed my consulate, except P. ( 
whose tate, as il has overtaken C. Curio, now awaits the* 
thou hast that in thy house, which proved fatal to My 

^consulate does not please Mark Antony ; yet it pleased 1'. g 
vilius, to name him first, who is last deceased, of the nun 
consular dignity at that time. It pleaesd Q. Lutatius < 
whose authority in this state will never die ; if pleased the | 
Luculli, M. Crafsus, Q. Hortensius, C. Curio, M. dpi' 
G. Piso, M. Glabrio, L. Volcatius, C. Figulus, with 1). pla- 
nus, and L. Muraena, who were then consuls elect. I 
thing that pleased these consular men, pleased also Mai 
Calo, who, as he left the world to avoid many tilings he 1. 
saw, never saw thee consul. But above all, did my consul 
please Cn. Pompey, who, when he first saw me, on his return 
ftom Syria, embracing and complimenting me, owned that he 
Avas indebted to my conduct tor beholding his country again* 
But why do I descend to particulars*? So much did it plra'se a lull 
senate, that there was not a man who did not return thank 
me as to a father, who did not acknowledge that he owed his 
life, his children, his fortune, and the safety of the state to me. 

Sect. VI. But as the public is now bereft of so many and 
such great men as I have now named, let me proceed 
living; two of whom, persons of consular dignity, are still alive. 
L. Cotta, a man of the greatest abilities and the utmost prudence, 
in the most honourable terms, decreed a supplication lor that 
very conduct which you now condemn; to which those men 
consular dignity, whom I have just mentioned, and the wnole 
senate afsented : an honour which, since the building oi' the 
city, was never conferred upon any man in tin; robes ol 
besides myself. With what spirit, with what firmnefs, with 
what dignity, did L. Caesar, your uncle, pronounce sentence 
upon his own sister's husband, your step-father? Him youou 
to have made your pattern, the director of all your counst 
but you chose/ rather to resemble your step-father than \ 
uncle. I, though none of his kinsmen, yet followed his adv 



tuhis Sura, who was put to death in Cicero's consulship, for r 
carried in Catiline's conspiracy. 

* ' P i 



5SS M. T. CICERONIS 0RATIONES. 

quani avunculi else maluisti : hujus ego alienus consiliis consul 
nsus sum: tu sororis films, eequid ad eum unquam de republiea 
retulisti ? At ad quos refert ? dii hnmortales ! ad eos scilicet, 
quorum nobis etiam dies natales audienxli sunt. Hodie non de- 
scendit Antonius: cur? dat natalitia in hortis; cui ? neminem 
nominabo: putate turn ( I3 ) Phormioni alicui, turn Gnathoni, 
turn Ballioni. O fceditatem hominis flagitiosarn ! 6 impudenti- 
am, nequitiam, libidinem non ferendam ! tu cum principem 
senatorem, civem singularem, turn propinquum habeas, ad 
eum de republ. nihil ref eras ; ad eosreferas, qui s nam rem nul- 
lum- habent, tuam exhauriunt? Tuus videlicet salutari& consu- 
latus, perniciosus metis. 

VII. Adeone pudorem cum pudicitia perdidisti, ut hoc in eo 
templo dicere ausus sis, in quo ego senatum ilium, qui quondam 
florens orbi terrarum pr«sidebat, cons-ulebam : tu homines per- 
ditifsimos cum gladiis collocasti ? At etiam ausus es (quid autem 
est, quod tu non audeas ?') clivran capitolinum dicere, me con- 
sule, plenum servowiin armatorum fuifse ; ut ilia, credo, nefaria, 
seoatusconsulta fierent, vim adferebam senatui. O miser, sive 
ilia tibi nota non sunt (nihiLenim boni nosti,) sive sunt, quiapud 
tales viros tain impudenter loquare ! Quis enim eques Romanus, 
quis prseter te adolescens nobilis, quis ullius ordinis, qui se 
civem else meminifset, cum senatus in hoc templo efset, in 
clivo capitolino non ifuit ? quis nomen non dedit ? quanquam 
nee scribae sufticere, nee tabulae nomina illorum capere potue- 
runt. Etenim cum homines nefarii de patriae parricidio eonfite- 
rentur, consciorum indiciis, sua manu, voce pene literarum 
coacti, se urbem inflammare, cives trucidare, vastare Italiam, 
delere rempublieam consensifse ; quis efset, qui ad salutem com- 
Hiunem defendendara non excitaretur ? praesertim cum senatus 
populusque Romanus haberet ducem, qualis siquis nunc efsetj 
tibi idem,, quod ilSis aceidit, contigifset. (.'+) Ad sepulturam 
corpus vitrici sui negat a. me datum. Hoc vero ne P. qu.idem 
Clodius dixit unquam : quern, quia jure ei fqi inimicus, doleo a. 
t:e jam omnibus vitiis efse superatum. Quid autem tibi venit in 
inentem, redigere in memoriam nostram te domi P. Lentuli efse 
educatum ? an verebare, ne non putaremus natura te potuifse 
tam improbum evadere ., nisi accefsifset etiam disciplma r 



(13) Phormioni alicui, &c.l Parasitical characters, put here for parasites 
in general. See Terence and Plautus. 

(14) > Ad 'sepulturam corpus vitrici sui negat a medatum,~\ Antony, it seems, 
had objected to Cicero, that he refused burial to the corpse of Lentulus 
Sura; but' Plutarch, in his life of Mark Antony, shows- that this charge- 
Vrivs OAOiiiuiicl's, 



• I ORATJo. 

.while consul ; thou, his si iy§ didsl 

suit him upon any thing; that ivL 

till gods! whom docs he consult with? why, w\ 

whose very birth-days we must h* at of. J 

not appear: why- h< : celebrates a birth-day in 

whose? I shall name nobody: imagine it some bull 

or parasite's. Detestable meaunefs! int©!< 

wickednefs and lust! Thou, though so near alii. 

pal senator, an eminent citizen, never ai 

the state; but advisest with thou- who, having nothii 

own, consume thy substance. So beneficiaj 

the public, so pernicious was mine. 

$£ct. VII. Art thou so far lost then bo shau 

tity, that thou hast the al'suranee to affirm this io thai I 

pie where I consulted with the senate which o 

ously over the whole world, but where thog hast now p 

most abandoned villains with Bwords in their hands? But th<*i 

hast also had the afsuranee. to say (lor what is there thou 

hast not the afsurance to say?) that the mount of the caiiiti 

my consulate, was filled with armed sla\es; hv which I supp 

you would insinuate, that I forced the senate into the iunu 

decree it then made. Despicable wretch, to talk so impudently 

before this alsembly, whether thou art ignorant of those thing i 

(but thou art a stranger to every tiling mat is good,) i 

ignorant of them! for Was there a Roman knight, was tb< 

youth of Quality besides thyself, was there a man of any rank, 

who considered himself as a citizen, that was not on the u. 

of the capitol, when the senate was alsembled in this temple ; 

was there one w r ho did not iulist himself? the clerks could 

neither write down, nor the registers contain their nan 

when abandoned villains confefsed their design of I 

ricides of their country; when they were forced b\ 

tion of their accomplices, their own hand-writing, and 

of their letters, if I may use the expression, to acknowl 

that they had conspired to set fire to the city, bo m 

citizens, to lay waste Italy, ami overturn the eomm 

where is the man that must not then have been 

defence of the public safety ? especially as the senate ao 

of Rome had then such a leader, that, had they now his Fellow, 

the same fate would overtake thee which then bei. 

denies that I delivered the body of his stcp-f. I 

Not even P. Clodius ever said this, whom, as I had 

his enemy, I am sorry to see outdon in all ni 

wickednefs. But what could put it into thy h 

that thou wast educated in the hoose of Lentuh 

apprehensive that we should imagine nature could 

made thee such a monster, without the aid pj 



690 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

VIII. Tarn iiutem eras excors, ut tota in oratione tua tecum 
ipse pqgnares: ut nonmodo non coharentia inter se diceres, sod 
maxime disjuncta, atcjiie contraria: ut non tanta caecum, quanta 
tecum, tibi efset contentio. Vitricum tuum in tanto tuiise sce- 
lere f'acebare, poena affectum querebare. Ita, quod propria 
meum est, laudasti; quod toturn senatds est, reprenendjsti : 
nam comprehensio sontium, mea; animaclversio, seuatus fuit: 
homo disertus non inteiljgit eum, quern contra elicit, laudari a 
se ; eos, apud quos elicit, vituperari. Jam illud ciijlis est non 
dico audacise (cupit eninr se audaccm dici), sed, quod mmime 
vult, stultitise, qua vincit omnes, clivi capitolini mentionem 
facere, cum inter subseliia nostra verse'ntur arniati f cum in hac 
cella Concordia?, 6 dii immortales! in qua, me consule > sal utares 
sentential dicta? sunt, quibus ad hanc diem viximus, cum gladiis 
homines collacati stent? Accusa senatum: accusa equestrem or- 
dinem, qui turn cum senatu copulatus fuit: accusa omnes ordi-* 
lies, cives; dum confiteare franc ordinem, hoc ipso tempore, 
( ,s ) abltyraeis, circumsederi. Ha?c tu non • propter andaciam non 
dicis tarn impudenter, sed quia tantam rerum repugnantiam non 
videas, nihil profecto sapis ; quid, est enim dementias, quam^ 
cum ipse reipublicae perniciosa arma ceperis, objicere alter* sa- 
lutaria? At etiam quodjamloco facetus else voiuisti: quam id te, 
dii boni! non decebat? in quo est tua culpa nonnuila: aliquid 
enimsalis ( l6 ) ab uxore mima trahere potuisti: Cedant arma tog<u ; 
quid turn ? nonne cefserunt ? At postea tuis armis celsit toga. 
Quaramus igitur utrum melius fuerit, liljertati populi Roma- 
ni sceleratorum arma, an libertatem nostram armis tuis ce- 
dere ? ( ,7 ) Nee vero tibi de versibus plnra respondebo : tantum 
dicam breviter ; te neque illos, neque ullas onmino literas 
nofse : me nee reipublicaj, nee amicis unquam def uiise ; et 
tamen omni genere monumentorum meorum perieciise ope- 
ns subsecivis, ut mese vigilia? meaeque literal et juventuti utili- 

(15) Ab Ityrceis, circumsederi.'] Jews (so called from a province of Pales- 
tine having that name), whom Antony, when he served under Gabinius, 
the pro-consul, brought with him to Rome, as persons every way qualified 
to execute his brutal and ambitious purposes. 

(16) Ab more mima trdiere potuisti,] This was Cytheris, one of An- 
tony's mistrefses ; whom he is said to have carried along with him in his 
military expeditions. Some commentators think she is the same person 
who is mentioned by Virgil, in those lines, Eel. ICHh. 

Galle quid insanis ? inquit: tua euro. Lycoris, 
Pcrque nives aliuni, perque horrida castra secuta est. 
She was called Volumnia too, from Volumnius Eutraptlus, who was ac- 
quainted with her before Antony was. She had, indeed, various names, 
which is no uncommon thing witn ladies of her character. 

(17) Nee vero tibi de versibus respondebo.'] '1 his famous distich has been a 
source of perpetual raillery upon Cicero's poetical character; and two bad 
lines, says the elegant and ingenious author of his life, picked out by the 
malice of enemies, and transmitted to posterity, as a specimen of the re t, 
have served to damn many thousands of good ones: Antony, it seems, had 



CICERc/s ORATION'S. 

Sect. VIII. Bat so great was thy stupidity, thai thi 
whole of thy discourse, thou wast at variance with th 
somuch that what thou saidst, was not only U\ 
widely different and contradictory ; so thai I iou did • 
to contend. so much with me as with thyself. 
your step-father was concerned in thai nion 
but complained tliat he was puni it. !.,.'■ 

properly my act, you extolled j what was wholli 
you condemned: tor, that the guilty were 
owing to me; that they were punished, to the 
orator therefore does not perceive th.it he is prai 
he speaks against, and condemning those before whou 
speaks. Now by whose (I will not say audaci'ou 
loves to be called audacious), but l>\ w hq 

tati n he by no means likes, though he i uen in it, 

shall I say it is, that the mount of the capitol w; 
when armed men are posted even amidst our benclu 
in this very temple or" Concord, immortal gods ! in which, u 
my consulship, wholesome measures were taken, measuft 
which we now live, guards are placed with swords in 
hands? Accuse the senate ; accuse the equestrian order, which 
was then connected with the senate, accuse every rank, 
every citizen; but you must confefs that this afsembly is, at this 
very instant, beset by barbarians. It is not owing to 
daciousnefs that you talk so impudently; but your not 
ceiving the inconsistency of what you say, shows your extreme 
stupidity : for what can be more absurd, than to reproach an- 
other with taking up arms for the defence of his country, when 
thou thyself bast prepared an armed force for its destruction ? 
But you once had a mind to be witty. Good gods! how ill did 
that become you! and, in some measure, let me rell yd 
was your own fault ; for you have a lad v who might have in- 
fused some wit into you. Let an/is give place to t 
How! and did they not then give placer but the gown .. 
wards gave place to thy arms. Let us consider, then, which 
was be.^t , that the arms of impious men should yield to t 
berty of the Roman people, or that our liberty ihojild yie 
thy arms. But I shall say no more to thee concerning [km 
only observe brierlv, that thou art an utter stranger to tiial 
every other branch of literature; that I nave never bi 
ing, in what I owe either to the state, or to m\ 
yet, by the works of every kind which 1 \hi\c compo 
leisure hours, have made mv labours an I learning t 
somewhat to the advantage of youth, and tut 



been severe upon him in regard to his poetry ; 

that bis answer is not in that elegant and pohle strain ut ran*. 

master of upon other occasions. 

1 I 



592 , m. t: ciceronis orationes. 

tatis, et nomini Romano laudis aliqukl adferrent. Sed hsecnoii 
hujus temporis : niajora videamus. 

IX. P. Clodiummeo consilio interfectum efse, dixisti. Quid- 
nam homines putarent, si turn occisus eiset, cum tu ilium in loro, 
iaspectante populo Romano, gladio stricto insecutus es ; nego- 
tiumque transegifses, nisi ille se in scalas tabernae librarian con- 
jecifset, bisque oppilatis impetum tuum comprefsifset ? Quod 
quidem ego favifse me tibi fateor, suasifse ne tu quidem diets ; 
at Mil on i ne favere. quidem potui ; prius enim rem transegit, 
quam quisquam eum id facturum suspicaretur. At ego suasi. 
Scilicet is animus erat Milonis, ut prodefse reipublicae sine sua- 
sore non pofset. At laetatus sum ; quid ergo? in tanta leetiti^ 
cunctse civitatis me unum tristem efse opbrtebat ? Quanquam 
de morte P. Clodii fuit quapstio non satis priidenter ilia' quidem 
constituta ; quid enim attinebat nova lege quaeri de eo, qui ho- 
minem occidifset, cum efset legibus quaestio. constituta? quae- 
situmesttamen. Quod ergo, cum res agebatur, nemo in me 
dixit ; id tot annis post tues inventus, qui diceres ? Quod verq 
dicere ausus es, idque multis verbis, opera raea Pompeium a 
Ca^saris amicitia efse disjunctum, ob eamque causam mea culpa 
civile bellum efse natum: in eo non tu quidem tota re, sed, 
quod maximum est, temporibus errasti. 

X. Ego M. Bibulo, praestanttfsimo cive, consule, nihil prae- 
termisi, quantum facere enitique potui, quin. Pompeium a Cae- 
saris conjunctione avocarem : in quo Caesar fuit felicior ; ipse 
enim Pompeium a mea familiaritate disjunxit. Postea verq 
quam se totum Pompeius Caesari tradidit, quid ego ilium ab eq 
distrahere conarer? stulti erat sperare: suadere impudentis. 
Duo tamen tempora inciderunt, quibus aliquid contra Caesarem 
Pompeio suaserim : ea velim reprenendas, si potes : ( I8 ) unum, 
ne quinquenhii imperium Caesari pmrogaret : a'terum, ne 
pateietur fieri, ut absentis ejus ratio haberetur; quorum si 
titrumvis persuasifsem, in has miserias nunquam incidefse- 
mus. Atque idem ego, cum j.im oiimes opes et suas, et popuii 

'■ '.•■■" ■ ' . .. .. . ... - . . ^ .,, 

(18) U?itim y ne qninquennii, d(c. Alter urn ?,e patereltir fieri, id absentia 
ejus ratio haberetur.'] Pompey, when he was consul the third time, in the 
•vear 701, procured a law empowering Ca:sar to oifer himself as a candidate 
for the consulship, without appearing personally at Rome for that purpose. 
This was contrary to the fundamental principles of t hi- Roman constitution, 
and proved in the event the occasion of it's beiug utterly destroyed ;" as it 
furnished Caesar with the only^pecious pretence for turning hiv arms against 
ihe republic. ; Cicero affirms here, that he endeavoured to difsuade Pom- 
pey from suffering this 'law to pats : but if this afsertion be true, he must 
have acted a very extraordinary part ; for, s£ the same time that he dis- 
suaded Pompey from suffering this law to pafs, he persuaded Coelius, who 
was one of the tribunes of the people, to promote it, or at least not (o op- 
pose it., agreeably to a promise which he had given to Caesar for that pur- 
pose. TJiis appears in a pafsage of one of his letters to AtttCtjS, where, 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 

man name. These things, however, are for. 
purpose; let us proceed, therefore, to whai 
portance. 

• Sect. IX. You said that Pijblkw Clodm, was killed hv m V 
advice. What would men have thought, had h 
when you pursued'him in the forum with \ 
Ijefore the whole people of Rome; and bad effected vou: 
pose, if he had not thrown himself under th< 
seller's stall, and, by barricading it, put a stop 
suit? In this, indeed, I conieis that I countenanced you 
you yourself do not say that I advised you to it : as for Mi 
could not pofsjbly countenance him, for he had complete^ the 
businefs before any person suspected that he had unde 
Vet it was I who advised him to it; as if Milo could 
done a service to his country without an adviser. Put j re- 
joiced at it. What ! amidst such universal joy, was * 
reason why I should be the only dejected person m Ron 
though it was not so very prudent to do it, a trial was appointed 
concerning the death of Clodius; for where was the n< 
trying a man by a new law, for the murder of another, 
such a proceeding was authorised by the laws already in be 
The trial, however, went on ; and what nobody, while i. 
fair was depending, accused me of, that you have laid t. 
charge so many years after. But as to what you In- 
surance to say, and that in so many words, that Pumpe . 
separated from Caesar's friendship by my means; and for that 
very reason, that the civil war was owing to me ; though you 
are not altogether in the wrong, yet you are widely mistaken 
in point of time, which is a point of great importance. 
- Sect. X. While M. Bihulus, that most valuable cil 
consul, I omitted no means in my power to draw off Pon 
from his connection with Csesar: but in this Caesar was i 
fortunate, for he separated Pompey from ray friendship. But 
after Pompey had given himself up entirely to Ca 
should I have endeavoured to disunite them? To have e 
tained hopes of doing it,' had been folly ; to have 
had been impudence. Two occasions, however, there 
on which I advised Pompey to oppose Caesar; and 
these measures you may blame if yon can. The ; 
that Cesar's five years "command should not 1 
the other, that Pompey would not suffer any regard t 
to Cesar's absence: in either of which could I have pn 
we had never fallen Into these calamities. Yet when Pompe; 



speaking of Caesar's claim to sue for the consulate, without p< ' 
tending at Rome, he tells Attieus, id illi hoc liccrtt, adjuu. 
ipso Raven?iee do Ca! : .o triimnapkbis, Ad. At:. 7.1. 



594 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Horn. Pompeius ad Cassarem detulifset, seroque ea sentire coc~ 
pifset,qiue ego ante multo provkleram, inferrique patriae belhira 
neiarium viderem ; pacis, concord iae, compositionis auctor else 
non* destiti : meaque ilia vox est nota multis, UTINAM, 
Cn. Pompei, cum C. Cyesare societatem aut nunquam coifses, 
aut nunquam diremifses ! fuit alterum gravitatis, alteram pru- 
dential tua i . Haec mea, M. Antoni, semper etde Pompeio^ et 
de republics, consilia luerant : qua; si valuifsent, respublica 
staret ; tu tuis rlagitiis, egestate, infamia, concidiises. 

XL Sed haec Vetera: illud vero reeens, Caesarem meo consilio 
interfectum. Jam vereor, patres conscripti, ne, quod turpis- 
ssimum est, pnevaricatorem milii apposuifse videar, qui me non 
solum meis iaudib us ornaVet, sed etiam oneraret alienis; quis 
enkn meum in istfi societate gloriosifsimi facti nomen audivit ? 
eojus autism qui in eo numero fuifset, nomen e^t occultatum ? 
Occultatum, chco? cujus non statim divulgatum ? citiusdixerim 
jactafse se aliquos, ut fuifse in ea societate viderentur, cum 
conscii non fuifsent, quam ut quisquam celari vellet qui fuifset. 
Quam vensimiie porro est, in tot hominibus partim obscuris, 
partim adolescentibus, neminem occultantibus, meum nomen 
latere poluifse ? Etenim si auctores ad liberandam patriam 
desiderarentur illis auctoribus, Brutos ego impellerem, quorum 
uterque L. Bruti iiiiaginem quotidie videret, (' 9 ) alter etiam 
A hake ? Hi igitur his majoribus orti ab alienis potius consilium 
peterent, quam a,suis? et foris potius, quam domo ? Quid! 
( i0 ) C. Cafsius, in ea familia natus, quae non modo dominatum, 
sed ne potentiam quidem cujusquam ferre potuit, me aucto- 
rem, credo desideravit: qui etiam sine his clarifsimis viris, hanc ; 
rem, in Cilicia, ad ostium rluminis Cyd'ni confeciiset, si ille 
ad earn ripam, quam constituerat, non ad contrariam, naves 
appulitaet. (*') Cil Domitium'non patris interitus, clarifsimi 
viri, non avunculi mors, non spoliatio dignitatis, ad recuperan- 
dam Itbertateriij sed mea auctoritas. 'exeitavit ? An C. Trebo- 
nio ego perstiasi, cui ne suadere quidem ausus efsem ? quo 
etiam majorem ei respublica gratiam debet, qui libertatem 
populi Romani unius amicitiae pra'posuit ; depulsorque domi- 
natus, quam particeps else maluit. ( 1: ) An L. Tillius Cimber 



(1H) Alter etiam Ahaltt ?'\ Ahala was one of' Brutus's ancestors oy the mo- 
ther'^ bide; he slew Sp. Melius, a Koman knight, suspected,, on aceo.urt 
of" hi? largefses to the people, of aiming at the sovereignty. 

(?0) C. Cafsius, in ta familia natus, &x.]Catbius was descended from the 
great C. Cafsius, who put his own son to death, because suspected of form- 
ing designs against Vhe state. 

(21) Cn. Dbmitium non patris i?iteriius, &c.] Suetonius gives a very 
great character u> this Domitius. He was son to L. Domitius, who fell in 
the battle of Pharsalia, and nephew to Cato Uticensis. 

( c 2 J) Jn L. Tiffins Cimber me est auclorem secutus ?] Seneca, in his epistles 
to Lueullus, says, that»this Cimber was a notorious drunkard; and that, 
neverthelefs, the secret of Cesar's death was as much entrusted to him as 
it was to Cafsius, who all his life had drank nothing but water. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

delivered up all his own power, and thai of the »lc, 

into Cajsar's hands, when he begun too late 

evils winch I had long before fores< 

unnatural war was ready to break out a#aiiwt m\ coumrv, I 

never ceased endeavouring to promote . a 

reconciliation. What I said upon thai occ 

to many: I wish, Pompey, ym had n 

broke of your friendship with Cottar; I 

with your dignity, the other with your prudence '< 

Antony, have ever been my counsel*, boti] 10 

Pompeyand the *fate.; had they prevailed, 

Stood, and ypu mu.,t have fallen by your cmius, your poffUctT, 

and nil amy. 

Sect. XL But these are instances of an old dale: let u^ pro- 
ceed to one that is later. Vou say, then, I -J 
by my advice. Here I am afraid, couscrip a most 
•scandalous imputation, since it may been not it I 
accuser, not only to load me with my own Ikw ..it witfi 
those of others: lor vvhq ever heard my name aoioug t.<o>e ■ 
had a share in that most glorious deed' yet whose ii.udc 1, 
was concerned in it, was concealed ? Conce iled, do I suv ? 
Whose, that was not immediately published? i would sootnir 
say that some boasted of being m that number who- were not, 
than that any who were, desired to be concealed, i ow 
likely is it, that among so many, partly persons of oo>cure 
birth, partly young men, who concealed nobody, m 
could pofsibiy lie hid? For if those heroes had w.c, mis 
to rouse them to the deliverance of their country, needed 1 to 
have prompted the two Rruti, each of whom hltd the statue of 
L. Brutus daily in ins eye, and one of them thai of A.kda be- 
sides? Sprung from such progenitors, th< irouLd r.;e>c 
rnen have asked advice of a stranger r.nher t tajn of t ..-.:• ;, • a 
family, abroad rather than at home? WhatJ C. Cafsius, 
scended from a family that not only could not brook sovereign 
but even the superiority of any one; he, I suppose, wanted my 
instigation, who, even without the afsistartce ol his illustrious 
partners, would have done this very thing in Cilicia, at 
mouth of the river Cydntis, if Csesar liad not landed 011 a 
side from what he intended. It was not the death oi . 
that most illustrious man, nor the fate oi his uncle, nor the be- 
ing deprived of his own honours, but my influence, thai roused 
Cn. Domitius to recover Ins liberty 7 . DU1 I persuade C. 1're- 
bonius? a man I would not even have ventured to t.Jk to on 
such a subject: for which reason the state o\\es him greatei 
thanks, because he preferred the liberty of the Roman people 
to the friendship of a single person, and chose rather I 
expeiler than the partner of usurpation. Was L. J 'iilius Cunbei 



595 M. T. CICERONIS ORATJO^ES. 

me est auctorem secutus ? quern ego magis fecifse illam rem sum 
admiratus, quam facturum putavi; admiratus sum autem ob. 
earn causam, quod immemor beneficiorum, memor patriae fuifset. 
( 1J ) Quid duos Servilios, Cascas dicam, an Ahalas? et hos auc- 
toritate mea censes excitatos potius quam caritate reipublicae? 
Longum est persequi caeteros ; idque reipublicae prueclarum, 
fuifse tam multos, ipsis gloriosuim 

XII. At quemadmodum me coarguerit homo acuius, recorda- 
mini. Csesare interfecto, inquit, statim cruentum alte extollens 
M. Brutus pugionem, Ciceronem nominatim exclamavit, atque 
jpl recuperatam libertatem est gratulatus. Cur mihi potifsimum ? 
quod sciebam? Vide he ilia causa fuerit appellandi mei, quod 
cum rem gefsifsct consimilem rebus iis, quas ipse gefseram, me 
potifsimum testatus est, se semulum mearum laudum exstitifse. Tu 
autem, omnium stultifsime, non intelligis, si id, quod me arguis, 
voluifse interficiCaesarem, crimen sit; etiam laetatum efse morte 
Cassaris crimen efse? quid enim interest inter suasorem facti, et 
probatorem? aut quid refert utrum voluerim fieri, an gaudeam 
factum? ecquis est igitur, te exceptp, et iis qui ilium regnare 
gaudebant, qui illud aut fieri noluerit, aut factum improbarit ? 
omnes enim in culpa; etenim omnes boni ? quantum in ipsis 
fuit, Caesarem occiderunt: aliis consilium, aliis animus, aliis oc- 
casio defuit ; voluntas nemini. Sed stnporem hominis, vel dicam 
pecudis,attendite; sic enim dixit: M. BRUTUS, QUEM EGO 
HONORIS CAUSA NOMiNO, ( 24 ) CRUENTUM PUGIO- 
NEM TENENS, CICERONEM EXCLAMAVIT : EX QUO 
INTELLIGI DEBET, EUM CONSCIUM FUISSE. Ergo ego 
sceleratus appellor a te, quern tu suspicatum aliquid suspicaris; 
ilii qui stillantem prae se pugionem tulit, is a te honoris causa 
nominatur? Esto: sit in verbis tuis hie stupor ; quanto in rebus 
setitentiisque major ? Constitue hoc consul aliquando: Brutorum ? 
C. Cafsii, Cn. Domitii, C. Trebonii, reliquorum quam velis efse 
causam: edormi crapulam, inquam, etexhala: an faces ad mo- 
vendae sunt, quae te excitent tantae causae indornnentem-? nun- 



(93) Quid d?jos Servilios .?] Publius Servilfus, the father, was consul in 
the year of the city 674 ; and having taken some towns of the Isauri, he 
afsumed the surname of Isauricus. His son was twice consul. 

(24) Omentum pugionem te?iens.'] Dr. Akenside, in his Pleasures of the 
J Haginafion, one of the most beautiful poems in the English, or perhaps in 
any other language, speaks thus of what is here said of Brutus ; 
'Look then abroad thro' nature, to the range 
Of planets, suns, and adamaniine spheres 
Wheeling unshaken, thro' the void immense; 
And speak, O man J does this capacious scene 
With half that kindling majesty dilate 
Thy strong conception, as when Brutus rose 
Refulgent from the stroke of Caesar's fate., ' 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 

determined by me ? oqe whom I was rather surprised I 

concerned in such an action, than of opinion that he wou 
dertake it; and the reason of my surprise was, tl ,Id be 

unmmdtul ot tavours, and mindful of bis country II 

distinguish the two ServiJii? shall 1 call - 
and canst thou think that these were influ. 
persuasion, than love for their country ? Jt would 
mention the rest. That there were so mam 
their country, and glorious to theraselv< 

Sect. XII. But observe in what manner- this acut< i 
is to convict me, The moment C«sar was killed 
M.Brutus, extending his arm aloft with tl 
called aloud on Cicero by name, and (Congratulated him , 
recovery of liberty. But why did he congratulate me in ■ 
cular? because I was privy to the design. Consider whi 
this was not the reason of his calling upon me, that as I 
performed an action of a similar nature with mine, 
me to witnefs that he appeared there as the rival of , 
But, dunce, dost thou not perceive, that if a di 
Casar killed, which thou chargest me with, be a < i 
also a crime to rejoice at his death ? for where is the difference 
betwixt the adviser and approver of an action ? or whi 
it whether I wanted to see it done, or rejoiced at it - I 
then a man, excepting thyself, and those who rejoiced 
usurpation, who was either averse to its being done, 01 
demned it when done? All men then are criminal: for all 
men, as much as they could, were concerned in the death of 
Caesar. Some wanted resolution, some spirit, some tl 
tunity ; but not one the inclination. But observe the stupidity 
of the man, or shall I rather say of the brute — for tl 
his words: M. Brutus, whom. J name with honour, / 
the bloody dagger, called aloud upon Cicero; zvkemct 
that he was privy to the design. I therefore am called 
because y©u suspect me to have suspected something ; h< 
held up the reeking poniard, is mentioned b\ 
Be it so: let this stupidity be in thy words; bow much mo 
there in thy sentiments and actions? Determine,, mv wc 
consul, the nature of what the Bruti, C. Caisius, In. uom 
C. Trebonius, and the rest have done. Take my advice, 
out thy wine, and dispel its fumes. Must torche 
plied to rouse thee, nodding over a cause of such imj 

Amid the crowd of patriots ; and bis arm 

Aloft extending, like eternal Jotfe 

V* hen guilt brings down the thunder, call'd aloud 

On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel, 

And bade the father of ins country, hail! 

For lo ! the tyrant prostrate on the dust ! 

And Rome again is free i 

Pleat, of I mag. a l . 1. 



59S M. r/crcEROK-is orattones. 

qoam-ne inteHigcs,. statuendum tibi efse, utrum illi, qui istam 
r-esa ge&eruat, hoisuctdce sint, an vindices libertatis? 

XHI. Atfende enim pyulispcr, cogitationemque sobrii boifti- 
xus punctual tftnpoifts suscipe; etenim ego, qui sum illorum, ut 
ipse laiew* fittnilrari&j ut a te argnor, socius, negd quidquam e<se 
nM&Iiuni: conftteor eos, nisi liberatores popuii Romani conser- 
vatoresque leipisfolicife sint, pins q'aari* sicarios, pius quam ho- 
miiciijasj pins et'fam quam parricidas else: siquidetn est atroeius 
patria? pssreateat, quam suum occidere. Tu, homo sapiens et 
considerate.,, qakl die is? Si parvieidue \ cor honoris causa, a te 
sunt, et in hoc online, et. apud popuinm Romanum, semper ap- 
pellati? (*») cor Mi Brutus, te rei'erente, legibus est solutus, si 
ab urue plus quam decern dies abfuifsetr cur ludi Apoliiuares 
incrcdibili M. Bruti honore eelebrati? cur provincial Cafsio et 
Brtito data:? car quacstores additir cur legatorum Humerus auc- 
-tus? . atqoe hara aeta per te i non igitur homicide: sequitur ut 
liberatores too judieio sin t, qoandoquidem tertium nihil potest 
else. Quid est \ ntiin eonturbo te r non enim fortafse satis, 
quae distinctsus dieuntur, inteiligis; sed tamen hsec est summa 
conclusions nicay: quoniam scelere a te libera ti sunt, ab eociem 
te amplifsimis praemiis dignilsimi judicata sunt. Iraque jam re- 
texo orationeni meam, senbam ad illos, ut si qui forte, quod a 
te mihi objectum est, qurerent, sit-ne*verum ; ne cui negent : 
etenini vereor, aut ne celatum meillis ipsis non honestum ; 
aut invitatuni refugiise, mihi sit turpifsimum. Qua 1 euim res 
unquanT (pro -sancte Jupiter !) non modo in hac urbe, sed in 
omnibus terris est gesta major ? qua; gloriosior ? qua- com- 
inendatior hominum memorise sempiterna ? In hujus me con*- 
silri societatem, tanquam in equum Trojanum, cum prineipi- 
bus includis? non recuso: ago etiam gratias, quoquo auimo 
facis; tanta enim res est, ut invidiam istam, quam tn in me 
vis concitare, cum laude non comparem. Quid enim beatius 
illis, quos tu expuh-os a te prfedicas et reiegatos? qui locus e*»t 
a.ut tarn desertm, aut tain iuhumanus, cjni illos, quo acceiserint, 
non aiFari atque appetere videatur ? qui homines tarn agres- 
tes, qui se, cum eos adspexerint, non maximum cepifse vita 



C2S) Cur M. Brut us, te refer Trite, legibm est solutus, si ab urbe, plus quam 
decern dies ttbfuifsct ?] Brutus ami Cabins being obliged to quit Rome r/n r 
Caesar> death, 'and not thinking it safe to return on account of the inso- 
lence of the mob, their frinuls solicited the senate for some extraordinary 
employment to be gfanted to them, to cover the appearance of a flight, 
andtbe disgrace pfliving in banishment; when invested with one of the 
first magistracies of the republic. As-.pfaetofs, their residence was abso- 
solutely necefsary at Rome, and could- not legally be dispensed with for 
above 'ten da\s in the year: but Antony readily procured a decree to ab- 
solve them from the laws; being glad to. see them in a situation so con- 
temptible, stripped of their power, suffering a kind of exile, and depend- 
ing, as it were, upon him for their protection. By his means commiisicms 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

Wilt thou never understand, that it must be 

thee, whether those who committed that uctiun were UiUi 

or the afsertors or* liberty ? 

Sect. XIII. Yet attend a little, and for one moment I 
like a sober man. For I who confefs myself their friend, and, 
as you affirm, am their afsociate, deny that I 
diiim: I allow, that if they were not the deliverers of I 
, man people, and the preservers of the state, the 
' than ruffians, worse than murderers, worse even than [>ai 
inasmuch as it is a greater crime to murder the fat) 
country, than it is to murder one's natural father. Whal 
thou, wise and considerate man! to all this f If they are ; 
ricides, why are they always mentioned by thee with honour, 
both ia'this afsembly, and before the Roman people' why had 
M. Brutus, at thy motion, a dispensation from the laws, o| being 
absent from the city above ten days? why were the Apollihariau 

Iarnes celebrated in so honourable a manner, for M. Brutus? 
■hy provinces aisigned to Cafsius and Btfatus ? why qu&stors 
tided ? why the number of their lieutenants augmented : and 
11 this was done bv thee! they cannot then be murderers; I 
re consequently, "in thy judgment, deliverers of their counti 
since there can be no medium. What's the matter? do 1 dis- 
concert thee? perhaps thou dost not thoroughly understand 
what is so clearly stated. This is the sum of what I have said ; 
since by thee they have been acquitted of guilt, by thee t,. 
have been thought worthy of the greatest rewards. I shall no* , 
therefore, change mv discourse : I will write to them, that it any 
should ask whether there was any truth in what you objected 
to me, not to deny it; for I am afraid lest it should bethought 
dishonourable in them to conceal it from me, or scandalous in 
me to decline it when invited. For, O sacred Jove! what 
P-reater action was ever performed, not only in this city, 
in the whole world ? what more glorious ? what can bd 
deserve being held in eternal remembrance? Dost thou make 
me an afsociate in this design, and shut me up with these he- 
roes, as it were in the Trojan horse; I will not disc 
nay, I give thee thanks, whatever be thy intention it ; 

for so glorious is the action, that I would not purcha* 
exemption from the ma%e which thou wouldst now r 
a&inst me, at the expense of the honour attending it Can 
there be a happier fate, than that of the men whom thou 
cW thou hit expelled and banished what place u tb 
so desert or barbarous, that, when they shall approach i w, 
not invite and entertain fchem? what men so f» not t 

^rT^ranted to thenO^rT^corn in Asia and Sicily. ..for the Mf t 
* public ; which was contrive* an affront to them, being absolul 
low their character. 



600 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO^ES. 

fructum putent? quae vero tarn immemor posteritas, quae tarn 
ingratse literae reperientur, quae eorum gloriam non immortali- 
tatis memoria prosequantur ? Tu vero adscribe me talem in nu- 
merum. 

XIV. Sed.unam rem vereor, ne non probes ; si enim fuifsem, 
non spium regem, sed regnum etiam de republica sustulifsem : 
etsi mens stilus ille fuifset (ut dicitur) mihi erede ( 26 ) non solum 
unum actum, sed totam fabulam confecifsem. Quanquam si 
internet Caesarem voluifse crimen est, vide quaeso, Antoni, quid 
tibi futurum sit, ( i7 ) quern et Narbon'e hoc consilium cum 
C. Trebonio cepifse notifsimum est, et ob ejus consilii societa- 
tem, ciim inter nceretur Caesar, turn te a Trebonio vidimus se- 
vocari. Ego autem (vide quam tecum agam non inimice) quod 
bene cogitasti aliquando, iaudo ; quod non indicasfi, gratias 
ago ; quod non fecisti, ignosco ; virum res ilia qua:rebat. Quod 
si te in judicium quis adducat, usurpetque iliud Cafsianum,CUi 
BONO FUERIT, vide, quieso, ne hatreas ; quanquam illud 
quidem fuit, ut tu dicebas, omnibus bono, qui servire nolebant; 
tibi tamen praecipue, qui non modo non servis, sed etiam regnas ; 
qui maximo te aere alieno ad aedem Opis liberasti ; qui per eas- 
tern tabulas innumerabilem pecuniam difsipavisti : ( i8 ) ad quern 
e domo Caesaris tarn multa delata sunt; cujus domus quaestuo- 
sifsima est falsorum commentariorum et chirographorum ofheina, 
agrorum, oppidorum, immunitatum, vectigahum, flagitiosiisimae 
nundinae. Etenim quae res egestati et am alieno tuo, praeter 
mortem Caesaris, subvenire potuifset : nescio quid conturbatus 
efse mihi videris; nunquid subtimes, ne ad te hoc crimen perti- 
nere videatur ? libero te metu ; nemo credet unquam : non est 
tuum de republica bene mereri : habet istius pulcherrimi facti 
dariisimos viros respublica auctores : ego te tantum gaudere 
dice, fecifse non arguo. Respond! maximis criminibus : nunc 
etiam reliquis respondendum est. 

(f26) Non solum unum actum, sed totam fabulam confecifsem.'] Cicero here 
declares, that if he had been concerned in the plot against Caesar, he should 
not have left his work imperfect ; he frequently reproaches the conspirators 
with having committed a capital mistake, in sparing Antony when they 
destroyed Cisar, But it may be affirmed (and upon the authority of Cicero 
himself) that nothing could have been more unjustifiable than to have ren- 
dered Antony a joint victim with Caesar. Jt is true, there was an ancient 
Jaw subsisting, by which every one was authorised to lift up his sword 
against the man who should discover any designs of invading the public 
liberties. But Antony was so far from liaving given indications of this kind 
at Ctcsar's death, tha'c Cicero, in a letter written to Atticus soon after- 
wards, tells him, he looked upon Antony as a man too much devoted tp 
the indulgences of a luxurious life, to be inclined to form any schemes de- 
structive of the public repose. Quern quidem ego, says he, epularum magis 
arbUi.rrr ratkmera habere, quam quid quam mali ccgitare. 

('27) Quern et'Narbone hoc cjiisiliimi. cum C. Trebonio cepifse fioHfsimutn 
e$h~\ We learn from Plutarch, in his life of Antony, that when the conspi- 
rators were deliberating among themselves about killing Caesat, it was de- 



CICERo's ORATIONS. C0 | 

think a sight of them the greatest happinefi of their li 

posterity shall be iouiuisoumniiKlf.il, what hi 
iul, as not to crown Uah memory with everl 
thou set me down in the gldriotis list. 
Sect. XIV. But 1 am afraid df on ntmelj 

cannot prove your afsertion: for, had I been com* 
have rid the state, not only of the tyrant, but of 
and had the piece been mine, (if I □ 
expreisioti) I should not have stopt at r/rle act, b' 
whole play. lUit if it be a crime to have wiahi 
death, what, Antony, must become () t you 
known that at Narbonue you entered into that rile 
bonius, and because you had been on red in t!> 

Ave saw you, when Cesar was killing-, called asid 
Trebonius. I indeed commend you, (oD9f 
from being an enemy) for having once m vour life formed a 
virtuous purpose ; I return you mv thanks for Hot ha\ 
trayed the cause ; and 1 forgive you for not acting in i; 
affair, indeed, required a man : but if any one should bring pou 
to a trial, and made use of that saving eff (\ii in,, What i 
purpose could it seme? beware, 1 beseech you, you 
puzzled : though it was indeed of service, as you yourself said 
to all who were not willing to be slaves ; and to you in parti- 
, cular, who not only are no slave; but even a king ; who have 
paid off your immense debts at the temple of Ops; who, by 
means of the notes I have mentioned, have squandered 
prodigious sum ; to whom such a treasure was carried from 
Cesar's house ; you, whose house is the most lucrative ofl 
for fictitious notes and writings ; the' most scandalous mart for 
lands, towns, immunities, and taxes: for what but I 
death could have relieved thy nccefsitios, and cleared thy 
Thou seemest greatly disconcerted about something. Art t 
afraid lest this charge should fall upon thee? I will rid the. 
thy fear : nobody will ever believe it: it is not for thee to tie- 
serve well of thy country : those who performed that most glo- 
rious deed, were the most illustrious persons of the state: I only 
sav, thou didst rejoice at it ; 1 do not charge thee with c 
fnitting it. I have answered the most heinous part of my 
charge : it now remains to reply to the other. 

bated among them, whether they should invite Antony to afsist them in 
the execution of their design; that Trebonius opposed the motion 
legi.hg that he was no stranger to Antony's sentiments in regard U) 
the affair, since he had already endeavoured to persuade him to it, at that 
time when Oesar was returning fr©fn Spain. Trebonius represented at the 
same time, that Antony refused to comply with what he proposed, but 
that he had neverthelefs kept the secret faithfully. Cicero gives a dirt 
account, Of the matter; he aflirms, that Antony entered into the d 
tinst Caesar, but that he had not courage to afsist in 
(28) Ad quern e do ma Ctesari* tarn multa deluta suqt ] Calphurnia, Cz 

Qtq 



51. T CICEROXIS CflLATIONES. 

XV. Castra mihi Pompeii atque omne illucl tempus objecim; 
quo quideni tempore, si, ut dixi, meum consilium auctoritasque 
v duiiset, tu hodie egeres,- nos liber i efsemus ; respublica non 
tdfc duces ct exercitus amisilset, Fateor enim, me ( i? ) cum ea, 
acciderunt, providerem iutura, tantii in mee*titia fuifse, 
quanta caeteri opt i mi cives, si idem providiisent, fmisent. Dole- 
Ixinij dolebam, P. C. rempublicam veslris quondam meisque 
comuliis conservatain, brevi tempore ei^e perituram. Neque 
yefo eram tarn "in'doctns ignarusque rerum, ut frangerer animo 

pter vitse cupiditatem, quae me maiiens connceret angoribus, 
'iimil'sa .molestiis omnibus liberaret : illos ego pr: oaos 

tiros, lumina reipublicae, vivere voleba,m ; tot consulares, tot 
pnetorios, tot hone stiismios senatores, omnem praeterea floj 

►ilitatis ac juventutis, turn ojtimorum civiurn exercitus: qui 
si viverent, quamvis iniqua conditione pacis 'mihi enim pax 
omnis cum civibus belio eivili utilior videbatur. ; rempublicam 
hodie teneremus. Qu« sententia si valuifset, ac non ii maxime 
mihi, quorum ego vita? consuiebam, spe victoriae elati ob^eitis- 
seut ; ut alia omittam, tu certe nunquam in hoc ordine,. vel po- 
tius nunquam in h'ae urbe mansilses.- At vero Cn, Pompeii vo- 
luntarem a me abaliena-batoratio mea; an ille queoquam pins di- 
lexitr cum ullo aut sermones, aut eonsilia contulit saepius? quod 
quidem erat magnum, de summa rep. diisentientes, in eadem 
consuetudme amicitiaj permauere : sed et ego quid ille, et con- 
tra, ille quid ego et sentirem et spectarem videbat ; ego incolu- 
mitati civium primiim,. ut postea dignitati poisemus ; iPe -prse- 
senti dignitati potius consulebat : quod autem babebat uterque 
quod seqiieretur, idcirco tolerabilior erat nostra difsensio. Quid 

iile singular is vir ac pene divinus de me sensent, sciunt 
qui eum de Pharsaliea fuga Paplmm persecuti sunt ; nunquam 
ab.eo meotio de me, nisi lioiiuritica, nisi plena amiciisimi desi- 

.1, cum d se plus tateretur, se speravnse m ell or a : et 

nomine me insert > ; cujus me amicum, te sec- 

tore.m jare : : 

.XV: nuttatqr bellnm illud, in quo tii minium felixfaistJ. 



fter the death -and, fled for shelter to An4oriy, carrying 

y Caesar had lei: behind him, amounting to near a 
." 

rero's wonderful 
reach 1 ices of evei 

p well ; and who 
a prophetic discernment, sevei 
- 



CICERo'.S ORATIONS. 

Sect; XV. You reproached rile m\ 

and with my conduct during all that ji 

which, as I said", if mv adVice and 

hadst still been opprefsed with want* 

our liberty : nor wduld the 

armies. For I eonteis, that when I 

have since come to pals, 1 v 

citizens would haw been had they I 

me, it oricved m< 

preserved by your conduct and m 

ruii) : not that I was so ii 
raasto suher my spirits ti 
continuance of which did b\U 

while the ldfs of it would hai 

Wanted I celleut men, the lumina 

so many of consular, s6 many of pratorian dignit] 

illustrious senators, besides the whole : 

vouth, and an army of the most worthy < 

"lived, though upon unreasonable conditions ol pea. . 
me any peate with mv CO n *eeme< 

a civil war-) we had still been in :• 
Had this adv.ee .prevaile had not I I 

consulted, elated with the hopes oiVictorv 
no more, thou certainly hadst neve* remained 
rather not in this city. But my discourse alien 
affection from me, Did he ever love any man more w 
a man with whom he conversed or advised more In 
which was indeed very extraordinary, that two pe. 
fererit sentiments in regard to the most important 
the state, should yet Continue the same m 

n But mv sentiments and views were known I 
his to me. I regarded the ,f my countrymen in ( 

first place, that afterwards we might he; 
hJtv ; he had their immediate dignity rather in , 
L^ea^kusea.achae^ntpouUtopursue our d 
was for that reason the more moderate But* hat 
inordinary, and almost divine P^V^^n Pta 
knew who accompanied him m bis flight froo 
Panho, He never mention but with honour, 

Eaiaoe . 

- - XVI But let that war be pafs< 



604 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

(• 30 ) Ne jocis quidem respondebo, quibus me in castris usual efse 
dixisti: erant ilia quidem castra plena cura ; verum tamen ho- 
mines, quamvis in turbidis rebus sint, tamen, si mddo homines 
sunt, interdum animis relaxantur. Quod autem idem moesti- 
tiam meam reprehendit, idem jocum ; magno argumento est, 
me in utroque fuifse moderatum. ( 3I ) Haereditates mihi ne- 
gasti venire. Utinam hoc tuum v T erum crimen efset ! plures 
amici mei et necefsarii viverent : sed qui istuc tibi venit in men- 
tern ? Ego enim amplius H. S. ducenties acceptum haereditati- 
bas retuli. Quanqua'm in hoc genere fateor feliciorem else te : 
me nemo, nisi amicus, fecit haeredem, ut cum illo cbmmodo, si 
quod e rat ; animi quidam dolor jungeretur ; te is, (juem tu vi- 
disti nuriqdam, If: Rubrius Cafsinas, fecit haeredem: et quidem 
vide, quam te amarit is, qui, albus aterve fueris ignorans, fra- 
tris filium pnrteriit : Q. Fusii honestilsimi equitis Romani, sui- 
que amicifsimi, quern palam haeredem semper factitarat, ne no- 
men quidem perscripsit ; te quern nunquam viderat, aut certe 
nunquam salutaverat; fecit haeredem^ Velim mihi dicas, nisi 
molestum est,, L. Turselius qua facie fuerit, qua statura, quo 
municipio, qua tribu ; nihil scio, inquies, nisi quae praedia ha- 
buerit : igitiir fratrem exhaeredens te faciebat haeredem. In 
multas praeterea pecunias alienifsimorum hominum, ejectis veris 
haeredibus tanquam haeres efsetj invasit. Quanquam hoc maxi- 
ttie admiratus sum, mentionem te haereditatum ausum efse fa^ 
cere, cum ipse haereditatem patris non adifses. 

XVII. ( ;i ) Haec Ut ctilligeres, homo amentifsime, tot dies in 
aliena villa declamasti ? quanquam tu quidem (ut tui familiaris- 
simi dictitant) vini exhalandi, non ingenii acuendi causa decla- 
mitas. Et vero adhibes joci causa lmigistrum, sufiragio tuo et 
compotorum tuorum rhetOrem ; cui Concelsisti ut in to, quae vellet, 
diceret: sals;im omnino hominem ! sed materia faciiis, in te et 

(30) Nee jocis quidem respondebo, qui bus me in castris usum efse dixisti.~\ 
"When Cicero joined Pompey, he was greatly difsatisfied with many things 
in regard to his management of the war, and the condhct of the chiefs of 
his party,- who, trusting to the superior 'fame and authority of their leader, 
and dazzled with the splendour of the troops which the princes of the east 
had £ nt to their afsistance, afsured themselves of victory ; and, without 
reflecting on the different character of the two armies, would hear of no- 
thing but fighting. Gicero made it his bnsinefs to discourage this wild 
spirit; but finding that his remonstrances were slighted, he resumed his 
usual way of raillery, and what he could not difsuade by his authority, en- 
deavoured to make ridiculous by his jests. Some of his sayings on this 
occasion are preserved by different writers. When Pompev put him in 
mind of his canting so late to them: How can I come late, said he, when I 
find nothing in readinefs among you?— And upon Pompev's asking him 
sarcastically, ivhere his son-in-law, Dolabella, teas? He is with your /at her- 
in-latp, replied he. To a person newly arrived from Italy, and in- 
formed them of a strong report at Koine," that Pompey was blocked up by 
Gtesar; and you sailed hither, therefore, said he, that you might see it 
with your own eyes. And even after their defeat, when Nonnius was ex^ 



UCEJlo's RATIO 

you say I made use of iridic camp. That camp m 
pi care; but yet men, even amidst scenes of confu 
are men, sometimes unheud their minds 
blames me for my dejection and my mil th, it i 
btimptfon that I was mod' -rat. i \ v.w . 

gaeies were bequeathed me, I wish | 
true; many iriore of my friends and Lin- mm mil 
now alive. But how came that into thy heal ? for 1 I 
ceived above 156,000/. in legacies: though j i 
have been luckier in this respect, for none but fi 
me to their wills; so that what advantage I hid, if I 
was attended with grief. L. Kubrius ( man win 

oever saw, appointed you his heir. And »,I>mi \. 
how much he loved you, when, without knowing 
were black or white, he preferred you to his qwn qroth| I 
he did not even mention Q. Fuaus, a Roman ki 
greatest merit, and an intimate friend, whom he had alwa 
declared should be hisqeir; and named you, whom hi 
saw, at least n'ever spoke to. I wish you would tell me, if ft 
not too much trouble, what kind of a man L. I 
person, how tall he was, of what corporation, and whal 
I can tell you nothing, } T ou will say, but what 
Therefore he disinherited his brother, and made you I., 
He likewise seized the personal estates of a great man 
persons, who were, perfect strangers to him, to the prejudice 
the true heirs. But what surprises me most is, that thou should 
have the afsijrance to mention legacies, when thou didst i 
succeed to thy own father's inheritance. 

Sect. XVIL Was it in order to collect these thin 
you declaimed so often at another person's country-seat r thou 
indeed your most intimate acquaintance give out that you i 
claim not for the sake of cultivating your genius, but • ate 

your wine: and, to complete the joke, you ap|i 
one who, in your judgment, and that of your c< 
rhetorician, 'with liberty to say what he p!< 



horting them to courage, because there were swen Mg 

camp ; 'You encourage well, said he, if we were to Jight wi 

the frequency of these splenetic jokes, he is said to have provoked Pom 

so far as to' tell him, / wish that you would gv over ' 

may beg i? i to fear- us. Vid. 'Macr. Saturn. '2. 3. Plut 

(31) fld-reditates ?nihi negasU venire.'] It w 
among the Romans, to have no legacies be< 

(32) Hcec ut colligeres, homo awentifsime, ior .' 
masti f] Antony being greatly enraged at Cic 
resolved to answer hira in person at the nexl 
which end he is said to have employed himself' tl u 

teen days in preparing the materials of a speech, and declaiming 
Cicero in Scipio's villa near Tibur. 



COG M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

311 tuos dicta dicere. Vide autem, quid intersit inter te et avum 
tuum : ille sensim dieebat, quod causa; prodefset; tu cursim dicis 
aliena. At quanta merces rhetori data est? Audite,audite, P. C 
et cognoscite reipublicae vulnera ; ( r duo mille jugerum campi 
LepntiniSex. Clodio rhetori afsignasti, et quidem immunia, ut 
pro tanta mercede nihil sapere disceres : nun etiam hoc, homo 
audaciisime, ex Oesaris commentarhs ? Sed dicam alio' loco et 
de Leontino agrp, et de Campaiip : quos iste'agros ereptos feU 
public^ turpiisimis pofsefsoribus inquinavit. Jam enfm, quouiam 
criminibus ejus satis respondi, de ipso emendatore et correctore 
nostro quaedam dicenda sunt; nee euim omnia efl and am, ut, si 
SiK-pius decertandum sit, ut erit, semper novus veniam : quam 
facultatem inihi multitude istius vitiorum peccator unique.- lar-> 
gitur. Visne igitur te inspioiarmis a puero ? sic opmor ; a 
prmcipio ordiamur. 

XVIII. Tenesne memoria praetextatum te decoxifse ? patris, 
inquies/ista culpa est; concedo: et ehim est pietatis plena de- 
fen sio. Illud tamen audacia? tuse, quod sedisti in quatuordecim 
crdinibus, ( 34 ) cum efset lege Roscia decoctoribus certus locus 
constitute, quamvis quis fortune vitio, non suo decoxifset, 
Sumpsisti virilem, quam statim muliebrem togam reddidisti: 
primo vuigare scortum ; certa flagitii merces, nee ea parva ; sed 
cito Curio int^rvenit," qui te a meretricio qu^stu 'abduxit ; 
( ! ) et, tanquam stolam dedifset,. in matrimonio stabili et certo 
Ipcavit. Nemo unquam- puer emptus libidinis causa tarn fuit 
in domini potentate, quam tu in Curionis: quocies te pater 
ejus -donio sua ejecit ? quoties custjbdes po-iuit, ne limen intrares? 
( :b ) cum tamen tu, nocte socia, hortante libidine, cogente mer- 
cede, per tegulas demitterere ; quae flagitia domus iila diutius 
ferre non potuit. Scisne me de rebus mihi notilMmis dicere? 



(33) Duo millia jugeruni campi Leordini Sex. Clodio rhetori afsignasti 1 
This Sextus Clodius was a Sicilian. lie is mentioned by Suetonius, in his 
book de CI. Rhe. Antony gave him two thousand acres of the Leont" 
lands, reckoned the most fertile ill all Sicily. 



ma 




(35) Et, tanquam stolam dcjifujt.l In the early times of the Roman com- 
monwealth, the gown was used alike. by men and'women. Afterwards the 
women took up the stola and the pa/la for their separate drefs. The stofa 
was their ordinary vest, worn within tloor$, coming down to their ancles: 
when -they went abroad, they slung over it the patfa, or -pallium, a long 
open manteau, which covered the stola, and their whole body, ,'j lie com- 
mon courtesans were not allowed to appear in the siola, but obliged to 
wear a sort of gown, as a mark of infamy, by reason of its resemblance to 
habit of the opposite sex. Hence in that place of Horace, 

„ , — ; Quid inter 

£#, ftim&frQm,anciUa}peccefye4ogdla? L. i, S. 2. ver. 6$« 



CICERO'S ORATK. 

pleasant fellow truly ! but it is no difficult m 

enough against you and your friends. I 

ference betwixt you and your grandfath 

rately, and to the purpose; you hi 

foreign to the subject. But what 

master in rhetoric ? Hear, 

the wounds of yoilr country. \ ou allotU d I 

of the Leontine lands, and those too fr • fron 

the rhetorician, that, tor su 

Jearn — nothing. Was this done too, tl 

jmen! by virtue of Caesar's papers? But • 

place, both of the Leontineahd Campanian I 

robbed the public of, he has debit d with hi 

For now, as I have said enough in answi 

must touch a little upor> this corrector and reformer i . 

now shall I exhaust my subject, that 

to engage frequently, which I fancy will It 

still fight with new weapons ; an adv. mi.. 

of his vices and crimes furnishes me with. Wouldst I 

us then examine thy conduct from a boy ? with all to 

let us trace thee from thy first setting out. 

Sect.' XVIJI. Post thou remember, that before putting 
the manly gown, thou wast a bankrupt } That w 
fault.' I allow it; for this is a defence full of filial piety. But 
it was owing to thy impudence that thou sea? 
of the fourteen rows in the theatre, when, by th< . law, 

there was a particular place appointed for bankrii] 
though they became such, thfougn misfortunes, and not thr< 
their own fault. You put on the manly gown; bu 
changed it into the drefs of a woman. At fir 
mon prostitute, at a fixed price, and that no low 
rio soon interposed, who took you out of the pi 
prostitute, and, as if he had clothed you in am 
settled you in firm and' certain wedlock. P 
to satisfy brutal lust, was ever so much in 
master, as you was in Curio's. How often d 
you out of his house ? hew often did he place 
vent your crofsing his threshold ? when you, not 
befriended by nighf, prompted by lust, ami' 
was Jet down through the tiling; criu 
could no longer bear with. Are you not consciwi 
of what is well known to me ? Recollect the I 



where, according to Dacier and other commentators, by 
stood the common strumpet, in opposition both to the 
servant-maid. 

(36) Cumtamentu, node socia, SCc] This is 
depravity, as cannot perhaps be paralleled; atyd th< 
Cicero here exaggerates a little, yet when we a 
to which vice v..\d debauchery had then arrive 
improbable, * 



€08 M. T. dlCERONIS ORATIONES. 

Recordare tempus illud, cum pater Curio mpcrcns jacebat in 
lecto : lilius se ad pedes meos prosternens, lacrymans, te mihi 
commendabat: orabat ut te contra suum patrem, si sestertium 
sexagies peteret, defenderem : tantum enim se pro te interces- 
sifse [dicebat.] Ipse autem amore ardens cbnfirm'abat,- quod 
desiderium tui discidii ferre non pofset, se in. exsilium else itu- 
Vum. Quo ego tempore tanta mala norentifsimae famiiiae sedavi; 
vel potius sustuli ; patri persuasi, ut aes aiieuum filii difsolve- 
ret; redimeret adolescentem summa spe et animi et' in genii 
praeditum, rei familiaris facuitatibus ; eumque a tua non mode 
familiaritate, sed etiam congrefsione, patrio jure et potestate, 1 
prohiberet. Hsec tu cum per me acta meminifses, nisi illis^ 
quos videmus, gladiis confideres, maledictis me provocare au* 
sus efses ? ■■■'-■■■ - - 

XIX. Sed jam stupra et flagitia omittaip ; sunt quaedarn quae 
honeste non pofsum dicere : tu autem eo liberior, quod ea in td 
admisisti, qua) a verecundo inimico audire non pofses. Sed re- 
liquum vitae cursum videte : quern quidem celeriter perstriu- 
gam; ad haec enim quae in civiii bello, in maximis reipubl. mi- 
seriis fecit, et ad ea quae quotidie facit, festinat" animus: quae 
peto, ut quanquam multo notiora vobis, quam mihi sunt, ta- 
men, ut facitis, attente audiatis ; debet enim talibus in rebus 
exeitareanimos non cognitio solum rerum, sed etiam recordatio ; 
iametsi incidamus oportet media,' ne nimis sef o ad extrema ve^ 
niamus. Intimus erat in tribunatii Clqdio, qui sua erga me be- 
neficia commemorat ; ejus omnium incendionim fax ; (* 7 ) cujus 
etiam domi quiddam jam turn molitus est: quid dicam, ipse op- 
time intclligit. Jnde itur Alexandriam ( iS ) contra senatus auc- 
toritatem, contra religionem ; sed habebat ducem Gabiniuuij 
quicum quidvis rectifsime facere pofset,- Qui turn inde redi-? 
tus, aut qualis? ( J 9) priusin ultimam Galiiam ex iEgvpto, quam 

(37) Cujus etiam domi quiddam jam turn molitus est.~\ By the second mar- 
riage of Antony's mother, he became son-in-law to that Lentulus, who was 
put to death for conspiring with Catiline. To revenge the death of this fa- 
ther, he-attached himself to Clodius ; and during his tribunate, was one of 
the ministers of all his violences ; yet was detected at the same time in a cri- 
minal intrigue in .his family, with his wife Fulvia, whom he married after 
ClodiusY death. * 

• (38) Contra senatus auctoriiatem, contra religionem,'] Ptolemy king of 
Egypt, having been expelled his kingdom by his subjects, fled to Rome in 
order to solicit his restoration by a Roman army. Cato, the tribune, op- 
posed his restoration, with the greatest part of the senate on his side. 
Taking occasion to consult the Sib) l.iin^ books, on the subject of some 
prodigies, he chanced to find in them certain verses, forewarning the Ro- 
man people not to replace an exiled king of Egypt with an army. This 
■was so~pat to his purpose, that there could be no doubt of its being forged ; 
but Cato called up the guardians of the books into the rostra, to testify the 
pafsnge to be genuine, where it was publicly read and explained to the 
people: it was laid also before the senate, who greedily received it ; and, 
after a grave debate on this scruple of religion, came to -a resolution, tha{ 
i i samied dangerous to the republic, that the king should be restored 



CICERo's ORATI' 

the lather lay opprefsed with grief in his bed; n 

prostrating himself at mv feet, recommende i 

my protection; and begged th.it 1 w< 

own lather, if he should insist upon having fori 

sand pounds and upwards, for he sai 

you to that amount : at the same time, inflan 

he declared, that as he could not he; 

from you, he would go into banishment. Al ivfiich tin 

posed , or rather utterly banished, al 

rishiri^ family. 1 persuaded the 

by means of his estate, to extricate i 

mising (renins, out of his difficulties ; and by his p 

and authority, to debar him not only from all intin 

from all manner of intercourse with you. 

all this was done by me, had you not trusted to tho 

we now behold, would you have dared to attack me 
reproaches r 

• Sect. XIX. But I will now pafs over you 
infamous intrigues: there are some thil 

with decency ; the knowledge of which gave you I 

scope, since you have been guilt) of what cannot 

against you by a modest enemy. But observe the 

course of his life, which, indeed, I shall quickly run i 

hasten to what he did in the civil war, amidst tin 

lamities of his country, and to what he now d< 

which though much better known to you than to me, 

you would be pleased to continue your attention: 1 

cases the pafsions ought to be roused, not only by 

but by the recollection of actions. 1 must, however, em i 

middle stage of his life, lest I should arrive too I 

This man, who now boasts of his favours to me, w; 

his tribuneship, with Clodius. He was the minister oi all ins 

violent proceedings. He did. something at his h< 

time; 1 what it was, I need not say: he himself kn 

well -what I mean. From thence lie went to \ 

against the authority of the senate, and that oi" i 

he had Gabinius for his leader, v ith whom he could I 

doing every thing in the best mannner. When, or !. 

return then from thence ? He went from Egypt into I 



multitude. Gabinins, when proconsul' of Syria, in open defi 
authority of the senate, and tjie direction olf the Sib) I, r< 
on the throne wili>his Syrian army, 
acquired the first taste "of martial > 
against the laws and religion of his country. 

(39) Prius in ultimam Galliam ex /E^ypio qi< 
turning from Egypt to Koine, v. I 
easy, Antony went to Qaesar into Gaul , .;iul B 
vinCe, being furnished with money and credit by < 
Home to sue for the cjuKStorSbip 



€\0 M-. T. C ICE RON IS ORATIONES. 

domum : quae autem erat domus? suam enim quisque domum. 
* 1 1 iii obtinebat, -neque erat usquam tua : domum dico ? quid ei;at 
in terris, ubi in nio pedem ponercs, (+°) praeter unura Misenum, 
quod cum soeiis (+ 1 ) tariquam Sisaponem tenebas? 

XX. Venist i e Gallia ad quaesturarn petendam. Aude dicere, 
te prius ad parenteral tuam yenilse, quam ad me ? acceperam enim 
jam ante Csesarjs litems, ( 4i ) ut mini satisfieri paterer a, te: ita- 
que ne loqui quidem sum te pafsus de gratia. Postea cultus sum 
a te, tu a me observatus in p.etitibne'q-uavsturae; qua quiilem tem- 
pore P. Ciodium, approbante populo Romano, in rbro es conatus 
yjccidere; curnquc earn rem tua sponte conarere, non impulsu 
jiieo ; tameti ita praxlicabas, te non existimare, nisi ilium' inter- 
fecises, unquam mini pro tuis in me injuriis satis else facturum : 
in quo deniirqr, cur Milonem impulsu meo rem illam egifse di- 
cas, cum te ultro mihi idem illucl defcrentem nunquam sum ad- 
bortattis: quanquam si in eo perseverafses, ad tuam gloriam rem 
illam rcicrn malebam, quam ad meam gratiam. ' Quaestor es 
factus; ( 43 ) deinde continue sine senatusconsulto, sine sorte, sine 
leo-e ad Ceesarem cucurristi; id enim unum in terris egestatis, 
•aeris alieni, Requitia*,' perditis yitae rationibus perlugium else 
ducebas. Ibi te cum et illius largitiombus, et tuis rapinis ex- 
plevifses (si boc est explere, quod statim effundas,) advolas egens 
ad tribunatum, ut in eo magistrate, si pofses, viri tui similis eises. 

XXL Accipite nunc, quocso, non ea, quae ipse in se atque in 
domesticimi dedecus impure atque intemperanter, sed quae in 
jios fortunasquc nostras, id e^t, in universam rempublicam, 
impie ac netarie fecerit; ab hujus enim scelere omnium ma'o- 
rum principium natum repcrictis. ( 4 *) Nam cum L. Lentulo, 



(10) Pnctcr unum J\Iisenum.~\ A promontory of Campania, nigh which 
Antony had a seat. 

(41) Tanquam Sisapo?ie?n.'] Sisapo was a town of Corduba in Spain, fa- 
mous for its mines of red-lead". Cicero mentions it here by way of infamy. 
It alludes probably to some proverb taken from the collusion of the farmer's, 
in whose hands it was, or from their working under ground. 

(42) Ut. milii satisfieri paterer a #.J Antony had shown himself Cicero's 
enemy in espousing Clodms's party. 

(43) Deinde continue, SCcJ] The quasstors, who were the general receivers 
or treasurers of the republic, were sent annually into the seven provinces, 
one with every pro-consul or governor, to whom they were the next in au- 
thority; their respective provinces were afsigned them by a decree of the 
senate, or by casting of lots. But Antony, without any regard to laws or 
customs, went directly to Caesar, as soon as he was made quaes tor. 

(44) Nam cum L. Lentulo, "C. M&rcelio consulibus, 6,'c.l As soon as Len- 
tutus and Marcellus, who were devoted to Pompey's interests, entered 
upon the consulship, the senate voted a decree, that Ca?sar should dismifs 
his army by a certain day, or be declared an enemy. M. Antony and 
Q. Cafsius, two of the tribunes, opposed their negative to this, as they 
had done to every decree proposed against Cossar; and when they couhi 
not be persuaded by the entreaties "of their friends to withdraw their 

live, the senate proceeded to that vote,, which was the last respit in 



cicero's orations. 
Qimh, before he came to his own house. ]]ut whi • 
pery person at that time had a house of his own, but 
had none. House, do J say? what place was there 
whore you could set your loot, 
like another Sisapo, you and your compaii 

Sect. XX. You came from Gaul to stand for tin 

Dare you say that you visited your mother bef( 
had received Caesar's letters before, desiring thai I 
you to make satisfaction; therefore 1 would no 




tempted this of your own accord, not hy mv in 
you declared that you couldnevcr make me sutfi 
tionfbr the injuries you had dene me, imh 
him. For which reason I am surprised you should m 
that Milo did it at my instigation ; seeing I never cncoui 
you to do it, though you made me thatcller of your o- 
Yet had you persevered in your resolution, I should have i 
that that action had been accounted honourable for you, i 
than advantageous for me. You was made quaestor; upon 
which, without any authority of the senate, without any 
ment, without any law, you instantly hastened to (War; foi 
that you thought the only refuge on earth for indigen 
Villaiiy, and desperate circumstances. There, when hv his 
profusion and your own rapine you had glutted your. 
may be called glutting which you instantly disgorged,) you 
empty and beggarly as. you was, to the tribuneship, thai 
might, as far as }*pu couid, in that oifice approve yourse 
your husband. 

Sect. XXI. Hear now, I beseech you, not what concern 

impurity and intemperance of his domestic infamy, out his impi- 
ous and flagitious conduct against us and our fortunes-; I 
against the wlioie constitution : because from - 
will find that ail our calamities have sprung. For win 
consulship of L. Lcntulus and C. Marcelius, you were 



cases of extremity, ' That the consuls, praetors, tribunes, and all wl 

* about the city with proconsular power, should tike care that the 

* lie received no detriment.'' As this was « 

with aa absolute power to treat all, men as they pleas 

judged to be enemies, the two tribunes immediately withdrew then 

upon it, and fled to Cesar's camp, on preten< 

|heir persons, though none was offered 01 :o them. 



612 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

C. MarceUp eonsulibus, kalendis Januar. labentem et prope ca- 
detnem rempublicam fulcire cuperetis, ipsique C, Caesari, si 
Sana mente eiset, consulere velletis ; turn iste venditum atque 
mancipatum tribunatum consiliis vestris opposuit, cervicesque 
suas ei strbjeck securi, qua multi minoribus in peccatis occide- 
runt. • lute autem, M. -Antoni, id decrevit senatus, et quidem 
incolumis, np'ndum tot luminibus extinctis, quod in hostem to- 
gatum decerni est sohtum nlore major um : et tu apud patres 
Conscriptos contra me dicere ausus es, cum ab hoc ordine ego 
conservator efsem, tu hostis reipubiicae judicatus? Commemora- 
tio illius tui sceleris intermiisa c:>V non memOria deieta: dum 
genus horpinum, "'dum pppuli Romani riomen exstabit (quod 
quidem erit, si per te licuerk, seoipitemum,) tua ilia pestifera 
intercefsio riominabitur. Quid cupide a senatu, quid temere 
ik'bat, cum tu unus adolescens liniversum ordinem d'ecernere de 
salute reipublicas piohibuisti r heque id semel, sed ssepius; ne- 
que tu tecum de senatos auctoritate agi pafsus es. Quid autem 
agebatur ? nisi ne deled et everti rempublicam funditus velles ; 
cum te neque principes ci'vitatis rogando, neque majores natu 
monendo, neque frequens senatus agendo, devendita atque ad-- 
dicta sententia niovere potuit r Turn illud, multis rebus ante 
tentatis, neceisariq tibi vulnus inflictum, quod paucis ante te, 
quorum incolumis fuit nemo: turn contra te dedit arma hie 
crdo eonsulibus, reliquisque imperiis et postestatibus, quae nou % 
eftugjfses, nisi te ad arma Caasaris contulifses, 

XXII. Tu, tu, inquam, M. Antoni^ princeps C. Caesarij 
omnia perturbare cupienti, causam belli contra patriam inferendi 
dedisti. (4*) Quid enim aliud il!e dicebat? quam causam de- 
mentiisinri sui consilii et faeti aflerebat, nisi quod intercefsio 
neglecta, jus tribunitium sublatum, circumscriptus a senatu 
cfset Antonius? Omitto quam hac falsa, quam levia; praeser- 
tim cum omnino nulla causa justa cuiquam else potest contra pa-« 
triam arma ■ capiendi. Sed nihil de Caesare: tibi certe confiten- 
dum est, causam perniciosifsimi belli in persona tua constitifse. 
O miserum te, si iutelligis! miseriorem, si non intelligis hoc li- 
utis mandari, hoc memorise prodi, hujus rei ne posteritatem 
quidem omnium saeculorum unquam immemorem fore; consules 
ex Italia expulsos, cumque his Cn. Pompeium, qui imperii 
popuii Romani decus ac lumen fuit; omnes consulares, qui 

(15) Quid enim aliud ilk dicehat?~] Though Caesar's real motive to begin 
the civil war, can be a secret to no person who knows any thing of his tiis> 
'ory, ) et it is certain that Antony's iiight gave the immediate pretext to it; 
and this Cicero had foretold,/ Caesar/ -says he, in a letter to Atticus, 

* will betake himreif to arms either for our want of preparation, or if no 

* regard be had to him at the election of consuls; but especially, if any tri- 

* bune, obstructing the deliberations of the senate, or exciting the people to 

' sedition, should happen to be censured "Or over-ruled, or taken off, or ex« N 
L peiled, or pretending to be expelled, run away to him/ — Ad, Att. 7,.?.- 



CICERo's OR A : 

on the first of January, of pro; fil- 

ing constitution, and ot favoii; !i . ( 
have been brought to a proper way of thi 
oppose the venal and prostitute tribu 
and subjected his own neck to thai 
rished for crimes of a lei's heinoi 
M. Antony, the senate, while it wi 
its lights not yet extinguished, de- 
according to the custom or" our ana 
against an enemy of his country. And bai i 
against me before the senate, when by this aftembl} 1 
adjudged the preserver, and you the enem 
your guilt has not. indeed been mentioned I 
is noAbrgotten. While the human rai 
shall remain (and remain it will for ever, unlets est. 
you,) that pernicious opposition of yours shall be 
What was done partially, what rashly by I 
a single youth, hindered that whole order from do 
concerned the public safety? and that not once, bui 
would you suffer yourself to be reasoned with about the at 
of the senate- Yet what was their design, but to hind 
abolishing and utterly overturning the constitution, \ 
the principal persons of the city by their intreaties, nor th 
of the people by their remonstrances, nor a hv.: 
liberations, could shake your venal, your prostit 
Then, many other previous methods being tried, tl 
necefsarily inflicted upon you, which few before you had felt, 
and none without sinking under its weight. 1 hen d^d 
sembly arm against you the consuls, and our other • 
and powers, whose vengeance you had never .escaped, it ; 
bad not fled for protection to Caesars army. 

Sect XXII. You, M. Antony, you, I say, was 
furnished Caesar, already desirous of throwing eve into 

confusion, with a pretext of waging war against 
For what else did he say ? what other season did h< 
his outrageous resolutions and proceeding, but th 
ceision was neglected, the tribunitial authont 
Antony over -ruled by the senate? I shall not sa; 
trifling these excuses are, .especially as no pe, 
' have any just reason for taking up arms against his cou 

But I shall say nothing of Gear; yet you must cerUinlv 

Ifs, that the cause of that most destructn e 
-your person. O wretched man, if thou : 

wretched if thou dost not perceive, that . 
4bry, that this stands upon record, th,, 

foro-et this fact; that the consuls were expelled It 

Senf Ponipey, the light and ornament ot 1 



614- M. T. CICEROXIS ORATIONES. 

per valetudinem exse.qui cladem illam fugamque potiiifsent ; pr^e* 
tores, praetorios, tribunos plebis, magna m parteiii senatus, om- 
iiem sobolem juveritifiisy tmoquc verbo rempublicam expulsarn 
atque exterixiinatam slug sedibus. Ut igitur in syeminibus est 
causa arboruna et stirpiura '; sic foujus luctuosifsimi belli, semen 
tu fuisti. ( +6 ) Doletis tres exercitus populi Romani interfectos ; 
, interfecit Antonius: ( 47 ) desideratis ciarifsimos cives; eo-s • 
que eripuit vobis Antonius: auctoritas bujus ordinis afflicta 
afflixit Antonius: omnia . denique," ejpise postea vidimus (quid 
atitem maii non vidimus?) si recte ratiocinabimur, uni accept a 
referer.ius Antonio: n't Helena Trojanis, sic iste huic reipublicae 
causa belli, causa pestis atque exitii f'uit. Reliquiae partes tribu- 
natus principio similes: omnia perfecit, quae sen at us saiva re- 
publican ne fieri poisent, pehecerat, Cojus tameu scelus in 
seeiere cognoscite. 

XXIII. Restituebat multos eakmltosos ; ( 4<? ) in bis patrui nulla 
rnentio: si severus, cur non in omnes? si miser icors, cur non in 1 
suos? sed omitto eaeteros. Licinium Dentieulanit de alea con- 
demnatum, collnsorc'm suum, restituit: quasi vero ludere cum 
cbndemnato non liceret: ( 49 ) sed ut, quod die in alea, perdideiar, 
beneficip iegis difsoiveret. Quam attuiisti rationem populo Ko~ 
mano, cur eum restitui oporteret? absentem credo in reos reia- 
tum; rem indicia causa judicatam ; niillum.fniise de alea lege 
judicium; \i opprefsunyet armis; postremo y quod de patruo tuo 
dicebatur, pecunia judicium else corruptum: nihil hoium. At 
yir bonus ct republic;! dignus: nihil id quidem ad rem; ego ta- 
men, quoniam condemnatum else pro nihilo est, si ita eiVet 7 
jgnoscerem: nominem omnium riequifsiiiaum, qui non dubita- 
vet vei in fpro alea Ludere, lege, quae est de alea, condemnatum 
qui in integrum restituit, is non apertifsime studium suum 
ipse profitetUr? In eodum vero tribunatu, cum C&sar in Kispa- 
niam proficiS'cens huic conculcandam Iraiiam tradidiiset; quae 
fuit ejus peragratio itinerum? lustratio niunicipiorumr Scio me 
in rebus celebratifsimis sennone omnium versari ; eaque qtav 

(46) Doletis tres exertftus r >:ani iftterf acids.] viz. Pompey*s, io 
the plains of.Pharsalia ; Afranius's in Spain ; ar.d Scipio's in Africa. 

(47) Desiderttti's'etarifsimos c?/rtfs\] viz. Cato, Lentufus, Marcellus, Domi- 
tins, and many other persons of eminence; who perished in the civil war. 

(48) Ihltis patrui ?ridliinieti!io.~\ This was C. Antonius, who was consul 
with Cicero: upon the expiration of his office, lie had Macedonia aligned 
to him tor his province; for the male-administration of which he was im- 
peached and brought to a trial; and being found guilty, was condemned 
to perpetual exile. 

(49) Sed ut, quod illc in alea perdiderat, bencficio legis dif sober et.~\ Com- 
mentators are divided in the interpretation of this pafsage. By : 
tegis, Abramius thinls is meant a sum of money which Antony received for 
parsing the law for Dentkuia's restoration ; so that the sense of the pafsage, 
according to him. is, that with this sum Antony might pay oft' the mnmy 
had borrowed, and lost at gaining. The commentator m us:..:. . 



CfCERo's ORATK 

that all the consular* bhoae health would 

m that rout and flight; that the praetors; the 

tribunes or the people, a great part of the B enat< 

or our youth: in one word, that the republic 

and exterminated from its own habitations: as 

theretore spring from seeds, so arc you the seed ol 

plorablc war. You are grieved that tin 

oil; they were cut oii by Antony. Ye la,, 

eminent citizens; it was Antonv that depr'm 

The authority of this order is wounded; ii 

tony. In short, all the calamities we hav< I 

what calamities have we not beheld ?) if w« will ,. 

were owing to Antony, alone. As Helen was t< 

has Antony been the occasion of war, misery, an 

this state. The rest ot* his Cribuneship was of a piece w ith . 

ginning. He did every thing that the senate, whil< 

tution was-inviolated, had taken care to prevent. 1 

lanou's he was in the exercise of his villauy, you shall [low 

Sect. XXIII. He restored many condemned p< 

never mentioned his uncle. It' he was severe, why nol 
against all? if merciful, why not so to his own relation 
to pals Over the rest* he lias restored his play- fellow i ieinms 1 >< 
tieula, who was condemned for gaming, as if indeed it were un- 
lawful to play -with a condemned person; hue this was doi 
that what he lost by gaming, he might clear by the Im 
the law. What reason did you afsign to the people Of Rop 
why he should be restored ? An information had been grant 
against him, I suppose, in his absence; the affair determined 
without inquiring into the merits of the cause; there was no 
exprefs law against gaming- ; he was overpowered by force and 
arms; in a word, as was said of your uncle, the trial v ... 
e'need by money : none of the^se reasons were afsigned. Bui 
was a. good man, and a worthy citizen ; that too is 
the purpose: yet, as you allege that he was unjustl 
demned, if this were true, I could forgive him. But 
restores the most abandoned of mankind, a man that 
scruple playing at dice even in the forum, and condemn • I bj 
the law against gaming, does he not evidently pro!'. 
pafsion for it? Moreover, in the same tribuneship, n 
at his departure for Spain, delivered up Italy to be trampled u] 
by this fellow, what a progrefs did he make over the e< 
what a review of the municipal towns? I know that I am i, 



opinion, that" the pafsage refers to Dcnttcula. This is thfl 
we have taken it, as appearing to us the most natural. The i 

take which he please. • . 6 



616 M. T. CICEROIHS ORAT TONES. 

dieo dieturusque sum, notiofa omnibus efse, qui in Italia turn 
ruere, quam niibi; qui non fui: notabo tamen singulas res; etsi 
nulio modo poterit eratio mea satisfacere vestrae sciential. Ete- 
liim quo.! unquam in terris tantum flagitium, e^stitifse auditum 
est? rantam turpitudinem? tantum dedecus ? 

XXI V. ( 5 °) Vebebatur in efsedo tribunus plebis: Hctores Jau- 
reati antecedebant: inter quos, aperta lectica, mima portabatur : 
quam ex oppidis municipaies, homines honesti, obviam nece^- 
sarip prodeuntes, non noto illo et mimico nomine, sed Volum- 
njam consalutabant : ( 5l ) ' sequebatur rheda; cum' I'enonibus: c*j- 
mites Efequifsiixii : rejecta mater amicam inipuri filii, tanquam 
imrimi, sequebatur. O miserae mulieris foecunditatem calami- 
tosam! Honnn flagitiorura iste vestigiis omnia municioia, prae- 
fect^iras, colonias, totarn denique Italiam iiiiprefsift Reiiquorum 
iactorum ejus P. C. tiifricilis est sane reprehehsio, e% lubrica ; 
versatas in belloest; saturavit se sanguine diisim'iiiimorum sui 
civiuai : fui't i'eiix, si potest ulla efse in scelere feiicita^. Sed 
quoniam veteranis cautum efse volumus, quanquam difsiinilis 
eat miiitum causa, et tua ; illi secuti sunt, tu quacsisti ducem : 
tamen, ne apud illos me invidiam voces, nihil de belli genere 
dieam. ( S2 ) Victor e Theisalia Bmndusium cum legiombus re- 
vertisti : ibi me non occidisti ; magnum beneficium : potuifse 
enim fateor; quanquam nemo erat eorum, qui turn tecum fue- 
runt, qui mihi non cem-eret parci oportere ; tanta enim est cari- 
tas patriae, ut vestris etiam legionibus sanctus efsem, quod earn 
a me servatam efse memiriifsent : sed fac id re dedifse mihi, quod 
non ademisti; mcque a te habere vitam, quia a te non sit erep- 
t.a : lieuitne mihi per tuas contumelias hoc beneficium sic tueri, 
ut tuebar, praesertim cam te luvc auditmum vide 



(50) Fehcbufur in efsedo tribunus plcbis.~\ The efscdum was, properly, a 
sort of waggon, from which the Gauls and the Britons used to afsail the 
Romans in their eirgagertierHS with them. — It would appear from this pas- 
sage, that the tribunes of the people, while they continued in their office, 
were not allowed to ride in a chariot, or any other vehicle. What Plutarch 
says, (Quest. Rom. p. SI.) seems to favour this conjecture. Hi's words 
these: Cum autem tribunus plebis e plebe snmpserit brigivefn, in eo vis ejus 
est omrtis, ut sit valde popularis, ejusque omtiis amplitudo est, ut non majores 
spiriha sumat quant (keteri, sea et habit u corporis es veste et visendi rai 
similis cuicunque civium. Nam pampa consuti convev.it et pnetori ; ai ■ 
tribztnum plebis, ut aiebat C. Curio, conculcari oportet, ncque specie may. 
tern praftrre, out efse inaccefsum, et multitudini dijfuifem, sed ita super 
alios ornttes eminere, ut tamen pofsil facile convettiri. Et ea?n oh rem rieque 
illi domus januas clauderefas est, sed diu noefnque aperit ; tanquam / 

ei perfugimn wdigentibus.. Quo magis autem externa specie corporis abjectus 
est, ea mag is potestate aftollitur. 

(51) Sequebatur rheda cum l c n#n ib us.~] Some commentators of very con- 
siderable learning are for reading /eonibus, instead of tenombus; they t 
thaiCicero wanted to intimate whalPliny has left upon record, b S.chap 
His words are these: Primus ikones Romce ad currum jirnxit M. A 

et qnidem eiviU hello, cum dimicdium e/set in Pharsalka 

vstcnto c>c>v.t.:j temporum, generosos sj>iritus 4 re HL- prodigio sig- 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

treating df matters publicly talked of by all; and what I n 

say, or am about to say, is mucli better known | 

were then in Italy, than to rue who was not. 

notice of each particular tact, though all I can say must I 

short of what you know : for was ever so villanous, so base, so 

infamous a conduct heard of in tins world? 

Sect. XXIV. A tribune of die people role in a chariot: ! 
reled lietors went before hiin ; and an -out 

in an open sedan. As the inhabitants of the municipal to., 
men of credit, were obliged to meet her on the road, the) 
luted her, not by her known and theatrical name, but by the 
ilame of Voluoinia. A chariot, full of bawds, followed ; his 
attendants were persons of the most infamous characters ; the 
slighted mother followed the mistrefs of her abomin 
if she had been her daughter-in-law : deplorable fruuiuinc 
an afflicted woman ! Traces of his lewdnefs he left in all i 
municipal towns, prefectures, colonies ; ; in a word, and in 
Italy. It is difficult arid dangerous, conscript fathers, to point 
Out his other detestable deeds. He became a military man, 
and glutted himself with the blood of citizens very unlike him- 
self; he was fortunate too, if a guilty person can be said to be 
fortunate. But> as I must beware of reproaching his veter 
and lest he should stir up their hatred against mc\, I shall say 
thing of the nature of the war: though after all, the case of the 
soldiers is widely different from yours ; they followed, you 
sought a leader. You returned victorious from Thefsaly to 
Briuldusium with the legions. There you did not kill me : a 
great favour, truly ; for I confefs you had it in your power : 
though there was not one of those that were with you, who did 
Hot think that you ought to spare me. For so great is the love, 
of our country, that my person was sacred to your legions, be- 
cause they remembered that by me their country had been pre- 
served. But, granting that you gave me what you did not tj 
away; and that I now enjoy life by your bounty, because 
did not deprive me of it; have your reproaches permitted me, 
to view this favour in the light I used to do, especially as ] 
could not but see that you must hear of these things again? 



nificanfe. Nam quod ita rectus est cum Mima Cytheride, supra monsfra 
etiani illarum calami latum f nil. We cannot help, however, agreeing with 
Ferrarius, who says, that if konibus were the true n o would 

not have barely mentioned so extraordinary a circumstance, but 
have dwelt longer upon it, agreeably to his usual manner. 

(52) Victor e ' Thefsalia Brundusium cum legiorlibus reverttsti.] Att rtne 
battle of Pharsalia, Caesar sent back a great part ot his .amy mU 
under the command of Antony, and pursued Pbrn&ey with the remainder 

of his forces. _,. 

Rr 



61$ M. T. CICER0N1S O-RATIONES. 

XXV. Venisti Brundusium in sinum quidem et in comply 
tuae mimula 1 : quid est ? num mentior r quam miserum est id 
negare non pofse, quod sit turpifsimum contiteri? si te raunici- 
piorum non pudelrat ; ne veterani quidem exercitus; quis enim 
iniies fuit, qui Brundasii illam non viderit? quis, qui nescierit^ 
(") venifse earn tibi tot dierum viam gratukitum? quis, qui non 
indeUierit, tarn sero se, quam nequam homimmi seeutus efset^ 
cognescere ? Italise rursus percursatio, eadem comite inima: in 
oppida nvilitum crudeiis et mi sera deductio : in urbe auri, ar- 
gents, max i me que vini,fceda direptio, Accefsit, ut,Csesare ig- 
liarD, cum efset ille Alexandria*, (- 4 ) beneficio amicorum ejus 
magister equitum cohstitueretur : turn existimavk so suo jure 
cum Hippia vivere, et equos yectigales Sergio mimo tradere ; 
turn sibi non banc, quam nunc male tuetur, sed M. Pisoiiis do- 
mum, ubi habitaret, iegerat. Quid ego istius decreta, quid ra- 
pinas, quid haereditatum pofseisiones daias, quid ereptas pro- 
t'eramr cogebat egestas; quo se verteret, non habebat : notidum 
ei tantaa L. Rubrio, non a L. Turseiio harreditas venerat: non- 
dum in Cn. Pompeii locum, multorumque aliorum, qui aberant, 
repentinus hares succefserat: erat ei vivendum lationum ritu, ut 
tantuin baberet, quantum rapere potuifset. Sed hsec, quae ro- 
bustioris improbitatis sunt, ommittamus: loquamur potius de 
nequifsimo genere levitatis, Tu istis faucibus, istis lateribus, 
ibtii gladiatoria totius corporis firmitate, tantum vini in Hippiae 
nuptiis exhauseras,ut tibi necefse efset in popuii Rom.conspcctu- 
vomere postridie. O rem non modo visu feed am, sed etiam au- 
ditul Si inter ceenam, in ipsis tuis immanibus iliis poculis, hoc 
tibi accidiiset, quis non turpe duceret? in ccetu vero popuii 
Roman i negotium publicum gerens, magister equitum, cuiructare 
turpe eft; ct, f is ) is yomens, trustis esculentis, vinuni redolentibus, 
gremium suuin et totum tribunal implevit. Sed hoc ipse fatetur 
else in suis sordibus:. reniamus ad splendida 

XXVI. Caesar Alexandria se recepit, felix,ut sibi quidem vi- 
debatur; meat autem sententia, qui rerpublicae sit inielix, felix 



(53) Venifse earn tibi tot dierum viufn gratulatuik ?~\ Lipsius tells us ; thai 
Brundusiuirt was 3~->0 miles from Rome; so that at the rate of travelling 
five-and-twentv miles a day, Cytheris must have been fourteen days on 
her journey. Horace, in the account he gives of his journey from Rome 
to Brunviusiiun, in the first book of his Satires, intimates that it took up 
iifteen c'n\ s. 

(54) Beii'/JlciO'cnaicoriim ejus magister equitum ccnstitucrstur.~\ When 
the news of the battle of Pharsaiia, and of Ptfropev's death, reached Rome, 
Caesar Avas declared dictator the second time in his absence, and Antony 
his master of the horse; which Cicero here intimates was owing to Antony's 
friends, and that Gafsav knew nothing of the matter. But Plutarch 
different account of the. affair. Sec his life of Antony. 

(55) Isvomens,Jrustis'escuIentis.'} RoUin., in Iiis Belles Lettre*_, ob< 
that there is a delicacy in the French, which would not admit of a transla- 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 



Sect. XXV. You came to Brundusium 
and embraces of your little actrefs. J [ow ! dor, 
Hovy wretched it is not to be able to deny 
confefs! If you were not ash 
the municipal towns, were yon not ashami 
self to your veteran army ? for what 
did not see her at Brundusium ? who I 
coming so many days journey, to give you 
not sorry he perceived so late 
lowed? Yon made a second torn of Italy, , 
same actrefs: cruel and miserable was the quai 
soldiers upon the towns; scandalo 
silver, but chiefly of wine in the city. To 
without the knowledge of Cresar, who was 
tony, by the favour of his friends, was appointed m the 

horse. Then he thought he had a n 
Hippias, and to deliver the tributary I 
player. He then chose the house of M. Piso, a;, 
which he now scandalously pofsefses. Why should 1 pub 
decrees, his rapaciousnefs, the estates he bestowed, and th< 
which he violently seized? Poverty compelled him to it; 
what hand to turn himself he knew not. He was n in 

pofsefsion of the large estate left him by L. Rubrius, and that 
left him by L. Turselius; he had not as yet become ail of a 
sudden the heir of Pompey, and a great many others who w< 
absent. He was then obliged to live after the manner of r< 
bers, having just as much as he could get by plunder. But let 
us pafs over the instances of his enormous wickednels, arid p 
ceed rather to his infamous levity. At the marriage of Hipp 
you gorged yourself so with wine, that notwithstanding that 
throat, those sides, and that Herculean body of yours, you were 
obliged the next day to vomit it up in the sight of the people of 
Home : an abomination ! the sight or mention of which must 
create abhorrence. Had you done this at supper, amidst your 
excefsive drinking, who would not have thought it scandalo 
but in an afsembly of the Roman people, the master of th 
in whom it would have been thought beastly even to U l< 
vomited, when transacting public affairs, artd filled bo- 

som and the whole tribunal, with indigested mors< ling 

rank of wine. But this he confefscs to be one of his blemish 
let us now proceed to. the shining parts of his character. 

Sect. XXVI. Caesar left Alexandria, happy in his own opi- 
nion; but in mine, lie who renders his country unhappy, must 

tion of this pafsage; and indeed the painting is so strong, and the 
indelicate, that in any language' it must offend the reader. 

Ri 



620' W. T- CICERO NIS ORATIONES. 

efse non potest : ( s6 ) hasta, posita (") pro a?de Jovis StatoVis,- 
bona Cn. Pompeii (miserum me ! consumptis enim lacrymis-, 
tamen infixus animo hacret dolor,) bona, inquam, Pompeii Mag- 
iii, voci acerbifsim-ce subjecta pricconis: una. in ilia re servitutis 
oblita civitas ingemuit; servient ( ibusq,ue anions, cum omnia, me* 
t'u tenerentur, gemitus tamen popuii Romani liber fuit : ex- 
pectantibus omnibus, quisnam efset tarn impius, tam demens, 
tarn diis hominibus(pe hostis, qui ad illud scelus sectionis aude- 
ret accedere, inventus est nemo, prseter Antoniun> : praesertim 
cum tot efsent circum hastam illain, qui alia, omnia auderent - 7 
unus inventus est, qui id auderety quod omnium fugifset et re- 
ibrmidafset audaeia. Tantus igitur te stupor opprefsit, vel, ut 
verius dicam, tantus furor, ut, primum cun> sector sis isto loco 
natus, deinde cum Pompeii sector, non te exsecrandum populo 
."Romano, non detestabilem,non omnes tibi deos, non omnes ho- 
mines, et efse inimicos, et futuros scias ? At quam insolenter 
statim helkio invasit in<ejus viri fortunas, cujus virtute terribi- 
lior erat populas Roman us exteris gentibus, justitia carior ! 

. XXVII. In ejus igitur viri eopias cum se subito ingurgita- 
vifset, exsultabat gaudio ? persona de mimo, modo egens, re~ 
pente dives ;■■ sed.,* ut est apud poetam ncscio quem, Maleparta, 
male dilabuntur: incredibile ac simile portenti est, quonain 
modo ilia tam multa, quam paucis, non dico mensibus, sed die- 
bus effuderit : maximus vini numerus fuit, permagnum optirni 
pondus argenti, pretiosa vestis multa, et lauta supellex, et mag- 
mfica multis locis, non ilia quidem lu-xuriosi hominis, sed tamen 
abundantis : horum paucis diebus nihil erat. Quae Cliarybdis tam 
vorax ! Chary bdim dico? (s 8 ) qua? si fuit, fuit animal unum : 
ocean-its, medius fidius, vix videtur tot res, tam diisipatas, tam 
distantibus in locis positas, tam cito absorbere potuifse. Nihil 
erat clausum,- nihil obsignatum, nihil scriptum ; apotheca3 

~~~(56) Hasta posita."] in all public auctions, a spear was set up in the place 
of sale. As it was the common badge and ensign of power among the an- 
cients/ Grswius thinks this was done to' signify that" they were made by 
a lawful commifsion 

(51) Precede Jovis Statori?."] This temple was built by Romulus, upon 
the following occasion : The Sabines, in one of their engagements with the 
Romans, had taken pofsefsion of the Capitbtine hill ; and rolling great 
Stories from the top of it, one of them hit Romulus upon the head, and 
stunned him; so that falling down senselds, he was carried out of the field 
into the city. Upon this the Romans were put to flight, and pursued to 
the very gates of Rome. Romulus, however, recovering his senses, rallied 
his troops, put himself again at their head, and drove back the enemy. 
We are told, that in the most critical minute oi' the day, when the Romans 
were ikying before the enemy, Romulus made a vow to Jupiter, in order to 
obtain "his favour for the speedy rallying- of his troops; and that, as for- 
tune would have it, they stopped at the sight of their general, upon his 
return to the field of battle. Out of a belief, therefore, that this was a 
particular blefeing of heaven, he erected a temple to Jupiter, whom he 
called Stator; because the Romans, recovering from their fright, made. a 
stand and faced the enemy. 

(58) Qua si fuit, fuit auimat unum.] Charybdis is a dangerous whirlpool 
in the straits of Sicily, near the coast of Tauromioium, on the eastera 



CICKRO S ORAi 



he miserable. At a public auction, befo J, 1JM . 

tor Stator, the goods of Pompey (oh v 
are indeed exhausted, but my 
the goody I say, of Pomp 

tloletul voice ot a public cri< r. [ri 

city groan, forgetting her slavery ; and I 

ed by fear, yet the groans of the Rom 

pafsage even from enthralled bosoms. \\ 

expectation to see who would be so irapi 

an enemy to gods and men, as to dare to bii 

sale, no one was found to have aisui 

which was the more remarkable, as there - 

present who had afsurance enough to do anj 

was only one person who durst venture upon what 

summate impudence would have startled at. I 

then, or, to speak more properly, such mad 

not to know that being descended of such a family, ! 

ing a bidder in that place, and a bidder too foi 

you rendered yourself odious and detestable 

pie, and incurred not only the present but the futu 

ment both of gods and men ? But how insolently thai w>ra 

monster seized upon the goods of that man, 

dered the Romans formidable,, aud whose justice qiade 

dear, to foreign nations! 

Sect. XXVII. Having then, all of a sudden, immersed him- 
self in the wealth of this great man, he was tra . with joy ; 
like the character in the play, he was pool' this instant, and 
rich the next. But, as a certain poet exprefees it, I . 
who, what slightly comes, sjightjy goes; it is incredible, 
amazing, how he could pofsibly squander such immense w< 
I will not say in so few iponths, but days: prodj 
quantity of wine, prodigious that of matey plate 
robe; great variety of elegant and noble furniture, such . 
spoke not luxury, but plenty: yet all was difsinated in a 
days. What Chary bdis so voracious! Chary bd is do 1 su 
there ever was such a monster, she was onk 
ocean itself, bv heavens! seems scarce capable of swallow: 
so much wealth, so widely scattered, and situated m 
distant places, in so short a space of time. thing 
shut up, nothing sealed, nothing committed to writing. Whole 

side of Demona, dver-iigairwt Scylla, a ' 

Jncidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitars Qhqryi 
sengers to avoid the one or other of them. Tl 
poets, as hideous devouring monsters. Chai 
been a rapacious whore, who, having taken . 
thunder-struck by- Jupiter, and thrown into t 
formed into a devouring whirlpool. Virgil, in the third b 
yer. 424. gives us the fabulous description of Scylla 
of Phorcus, whom Circe is said to have transform 
cause she was her rival. 



652 M. T. CXCERONIS ORATIONES. 

totae nequifsimis hominibus condonabantur : alia mimi rapiebant, 
alia mimae; domus erat aleatoribus referta, plena ebriorum: to- 
tos dies potabatur, atque id Jocis pluribus : suggerehantur etiam 
sa?pe (non enim semper iste feiix) damna aleatoria: conchy batis 
€n. Pompeii peristromatis servorum in cellis iectos stratos vide- 
res. Quairfobrem desinite mirari, base tarn celeriter efsecon- 
sumpta; non modo anius patrimonium, quamvis ampium, ut il- 
lud fuit, sed urbes et regna celeriter tanta nequitia devorare po- 
tuifsel. At ejusdem osdes etiam et hortos. O audacium imma- 
nem! tu etiam ingrecli illam domum ausus es? tu illud Sanctis- 
simum limen intrare ? tu illarum aedium diis penatibu* os im- 
portunifsmium ostendere ? Quam domum aliquamcm nemo 
aspicere poterat, nemo sine lacrymis praeterire^ hac te in domo 
tamdiu diversari nori pudet? in qua, quamvis nihil sapias, ta- 
men nihil tibi potest efse jucundum. 

XXVIII. An tu ilia in vestibulo ( 59 ) rostra, spolia cum ad- 
spexisti, domum tuam te introire putas? fieri non potest : quam- 
vis enim sine mente, sine sensu sis, ut es, tamen et te, et tua, 
et tuos nosti ; nee vero te unquam neque vigilantem, neque in 
somnis credo mente pofse consistere. Necefse est, quamvis sis, 
ut es, violentus et furens, cum tibi objecta sit species singularis 
viri, perterritum te de somno excitari, furere etiam saepe vigi- 
lantem. Me quidem miseret parietum ipsorum, atque tectorum : 
quid enim unquam domus ilia viderat, nisi pudicum, nisi ex op- 
timo more et sanctiisima disciplina? fuit enim ilie vir, P. C. si- 
cut scitis, ( 6o ) cum foris clarus, turn domi admirandus; ne- 
que rebus externis magis laudandus, quam institutis domesti- 
cis: hums in acdibus pro cubiculis stabula, pro tricliniis popina) 
sunt : etsi jam negat ; nolite, nolite quacrere ; frugi factus est ; 
mimam illam suam suas res sibi habere jufsit, ex duodecim ta- 4 
bulis ; claves ademit, fo'rasque exegit: quam porro spectatus ci- 
vis, quam probatus; ciijus ex omni vita nihil est honestius, quam 

(59), Rostra, spolia cum adspexisH."] -J he P v oiuaus, it would appear, had a 
s*peat pride in ornamenting their porches and the avenues to their houses. 
Poinpev, having been successful in the war against the pirates, had his 
ornamented with na"val spoils. 

(60) Cum {oris darns, turn domi admiraiidus, &c] Tn Cicero's writings, 
we sometimes lind Pompey's character heightened by the shining col 
pf, eloquence, sometimes deprefsed by the "darker strokes of resentment : 
but his true character seems to have been that of an honest, grave, and 
worthy man, as our orator represents him in a letter to Atticus. He had 
early acquired the surname of the great, by that sort of merit, which from 
tiie constitution of the Roman republic, necefsarily made him great; a 
fame aji.d succefs in war, superior to what 'Ecme had ever known, in the 
most celebrated of. her generals He had triumphed at three several times 
over the three different parts of the known world, Europe, Asia, Africa ; 
and by bis victories, had almost doubled the extent, as well as the reve- 
nues of the Roman dominion ; for, as he declared to the people on his re- 
turn from the Mithridatic war, hejound the Lefser Asia the boundary, but 
left it the middle of the empire. V, hat leisure he found from his wars, he 
employed in the study of polite letters, and especially of eloquence; ha 



ClCERo's ORATh. 

hilars of wine wen 

some thnvp became the plunder or 

the house swarmed with gamesters . 

were consumed m 
these things were 
A tony h,mseit ; v, 

the beds of si .vered witl 

Alchti to wonder, tlit all tl 

were so soon di&ipated. Such wild | 
have consumed not only the .wealth of , 
ever, but whole cities and kingdoms. fcv< 

us did this man swallow up. Consummai 
AndJiad you the alsurance to em. i 
sacred threshold ? to present your dau 
household gods of that family? 
so long in a house which none for a loi 
none could pais by, svjthout shedding tears ? a I; 
senselefs as you are, not one single thing coi 
pleasure. 

Sect.. XXVIII. Did you imagine yon was ctitt 
house, when you beheld the beaks' of ships and ot 
spoils that adorned its porch? It is impotsible : for, 
and inconsiderate as you are, yetstill you know your friei 
self, and what belongs to you. Nor indeed do I think it p< 
that you could, either awake or asleep, enjoy any tranquillity 
of mind : for, violent and frantic as you are, when the form of 
that extraordinary man presented itself to your imagin 
you must have been roused out of your sleep with honor, and 
even have been often seized with frenzy when av 
for me, I really pity its very walls and roofs ; for, what d;. 
bouse ever behold but the greatest modesty, purity, an 
of manners? for Pompey, pt fathers, as you 

know, was both eminent abroad, and to be admired an 
home ; no more to be commended for bis public conduct, than 
for his domestic discipline: yet under Ins roofs are br< 
now instead of bed-chambers, and tipplinj id of 

dining-rooms. Bat Antony denies all this. Give over, give 
over making any inquiry: he has now become frugal; he 
has divorced his actrefs, according to die laws oi the twelve 
tables; he has taken away his keys from her, and turned 
her out of doors. How excellent, how worthy a cil 
most commendable action of whose whole life is his di 
voicing an actrefs! But how often does he talk of his I 

which he would have acquired great fame, if his genius had not dn i 

to the more dazzling glory of arms: yet he pleaded several 

plause, in trie defence of his friends and clients ; and some v\ ll 

junction with Cicero. His language is said to have been i 

vated'; his sentiments just ; his voice sweet; his act. I full of 

dignity. 

11 r 4 



624 M„ T. CICE&ONIS p£ATIONE$. 

quod cum mima fecit divortiunj ? At quam crebro usurpat, et 
gpnsid, et Anionius? hoc est dicere, et consul, et impiidicifsi- 
mus; et consul, et homo nequifsimus : quod enim est aliud An- 
tonius: nam si digrjitas significaretur iu nomine, dixiiset ali- 
quandoj credo, avus tuus, et consul, ctAntonius; nunqu 
dixit; dixifset etiam collega meus, patruus tuus: nisi tu solus 
es Aritoriius. Sed omitto ea peccata, quae hon sunt earurn par- 
tium propria, quibus tu rempublicam vexavisti : ad ipsas tuas 
partes redeo, id est, ad chile belliim : quod natuin,' conflatum, 
susceptum opera tua. est. 

XXIX. Cui bello cum propter timiditatem tuam, turn propter 
libidines detuisti : giistaras civiiem sanguinem, vel potius exsor- 
bueras: fueras in acie Pharsalica antesignanus : L. Domitium, 
nobilifsimum et clarifsimum virum, occideras : multos, qui & 
predio effugerant, quos Caesar, ut nonnullus, fortafse serrafset, 
crudelifsime persecutus trucidaras ; quibus rebustantis, talibus 
gestis, quid tuit causae, cur in Africam Caesaiem non sequere, 
cum prater tim belli pars tanta restaret ? Itaque quern locum 
apud ipsum Caesarem, post ejus ex Africa reditum, obtinuisti r 
quo numero fuisti ? cujus tu imperatoris quaestor fueras, dicta - 
toris magister equitum, belli princeps, crudelitatis auctor, prsedse 
socius, testamento,'ut ipse dicebas, filius, ( 6I ) appellatus es de 
pecunia, quam pro dome, pro hortis, pro sectione debebas : 
primo respondisti plane lerociter , et (ne omnia videar contra 
te) propemodum aequa etjusta dicebas. A me C. Gesar pecu- 
niam 1 cur potius, quam ego ab illo r an ilie sine me vicit r at 
ne potuit quidem : ego ad ilium belli civilis causam attuii ; ego 
leges perniciosas rogavi; ego anna contra consules impcratores- 
que populi Romani, contra senatum populumque RomanUm, 
contra deos patrios, arasque et focos, contra patriam tali : nuin sibi 
soli vicit? quorum facinus est commune, cur non siteorumprarda 
communis ? Jus postulabas : sed quid ad rem ? plus' iile poterat. 
Itaque excufsis tuis vocibus, et ad tc, et ad prscdes tubs milites 
misit: cum, repente a te praeclara ilia tabula prolata, qui risus 
bominum? tantairi efse tabulani, tain vaiias, tam 'arnicas pos- 
sefsiones, ex quibus praeter partem Miseni, nihil erat, quod is, 
qui anctionaretur, pofset suum dicere. Auction!? vero misrabilis 
adspectus, yestis Pompeii non multa, eaque maculosa: ejusdem 



1 



(61) Appellaius es de pecurja, quam pro do??io, &rc] Antony bought Pom- 
pey's houses in Rome, and the neighbourhood, with all tin ir. rich furniture," 
at Cseaar's auction ; but trusting' to 'his interest with C:esar,and to the part 
•which he had borne in advancing him to his power, never dreamt of 'being 
obliged to pay for them: but Caesar, disgusted with his debaucheries and 
extravagance, resolved to show himself the sole master, nor suffer any con- 
tradiction to his will ; accordingly he gave peieitiptory orders to L. Plan- 
eus, the praetor, to require immediate payment pt Antony, or else to levy 
the money upon his sureties, according to the tenour of their bond. This 
provoked Antony to such a degree, that, in the height of his resentment} 
he is said to have entered into a design of taking away Caesar's life, of 
which pjesar himself complained openly in the senate. 



}»oth consul and Antony? that is to 

.the vilest fellow breathing; both Auto: 

on earth. For what i b} 

were implied in the name, your -ran 

sometimes have styled himself both co 

never did: my colW 

same, unlefs you person ( 

But I pais over those faults which u 

racter in which you hare harafsed your pouhti 

to that scene in which you was a principal a'ci 

civil war, which was begun, contrived, and undertaken I 

means. 

Sect. XXIX. Your cowardice . 
unequal to this war. You had tasted, or ral 
down the blood of your countrymen : in the battle i 
you led the van ; you had murdered L. Domitius, a nun oi 
oreatest quality and renown ; numbers that I 
of the battle, whom Caesar, as he did hers, would p< 

haps have saved, you had butchered, alter nursuin 
the utmost cruelty.' Alter which great and gl 
why did you not follow Cesar into Africa, especially 
great a part of the war still remained ? In what favour 
you with Caesar- after his return from Africa In 
When general, you had been his quaestor ; when dictator, 
master of the horse: you had been the manager o* I 
adviser of his cruelty; the partaker of the plunder. 
Will, as you yourself owned, named hisheir: But you wa 
' for the money you owed for the house, for the 
: the rest of the purchase. At first you answered with down: 
fiefcenefs; and that I may not always seei 
you said was almost just and equitable : 
L ' why more than I should of him ? Has he conquered 
Lf that he could never have done. It was 1 
pretext for the civil war, I who paised* pernicious 
took up arms aeainst the consuls and generals ol 
Spl? against %e senate and people o^ome, 
country <&ls, against oui religion and property, an 
."v country: fed he conquer for h imselt only ? ii 
common, why should not the booty be common t< 
maTueu Uly what was reasonable; but what did hat 
Xkhe w?s more powerful r Turning a deal ear then to your 
beeches he despatched his soldiers to yon and yoursure 
when you produeecl that famou* inventory all ol a sudd. 



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

qiiaedam argentea vasa collisa : sordidata mancipia < ut doleretnus, 
quidquam efse ex illis reliquiis, quod videre pofsemus. Hanc 
tamen auctionem hsered^s L. Rubrii decreto Caesaris prohibue- 
rimt. Hasrebat nebulo: quo se veteret non- habebat. Quin his 
ipsis ternporibus domi Csesaris-percuisor ab isto mifsus, depre- 
hensus dicebatur efse cum sica ; de quo Caesar in senatu, a^erie 
m te invehens, questus est. Proficiscitui in Hispaniam Caesar, 
paucis tibi ad solvciidum, propter inopiam tuam,. prorogatis 
diebu's ; ne tum"quidem s s.equens: ( S2 ) tarn bonus gladiator, ru- 
clem tarn cito accepisti 5 

XXX. Hunc igitur quisquam,.quiin suispartibus, id est, in suis 
fortunis, tarn timidus fuerit, pertimescat ? Profectus est tandem 
aliquando in Hispaniam : sed tuto, ut ait, pervenire non potuit; 
qacmam iriodo igitur Dolabeiia per venit? aut non suscipienda 
hnt ista causa, An torn; aut, cum suscepifses, defendenda usque 
ad extremum. Ter depugnavit Caesar cum civibus; in ThefsaHa, 
Africa, Hispani a: omnibus affuit bis pugnis Dolabeiia ; inHispa- 
juensi etiam vulnus accepit: si de meo judicio quaeris, noliem ; 
sed tamen consilium a primo reprebendendum, laudanda con- 
stantia. Tu vero qui es? Cn. Pompeii liberi primum patriam 
repetebant ; esto : fuer.it partium haec causa communis : repete- 
bant deos patrios, aras,focos, larem suum familiarem, in quae tu 
in^aseras : haec cum repeterent armis ii, quorum erant legibus 
(etsi in rebus iniquifsimis quid potest efse scqui ;) tamen erat sequis- 
sunum, contra Cn. Pompeii liberos Cn. Pompeii pugnare secto- 
rehi. An tu Narbone mensas ^ospitum convomeres,, Dolabeiia 
pro te in Hispania dimicaret? Qui vero Narbone reditus ? et 
tamen quaerebat, cur ego ex ipso cursu tam subito revertifsem. 
iosuinuper, P. C. causam reditfts mei ; volui, si pofsem, 
tm ante kalendas Januarias prodefse reipublicae : nam quod 
qusbrebas quomodo rediisem ? primum luce, non tenebris ; 
tieinde cum calceis et toga, ( 63 ) nullis nee gallicis nee lacerna, 

(62) Tam bonus gladiator tudem tam cito accepisti ?] When the gladiators 

elided their combats, the victors had several marks of favour conferred 

*upon tnem. The most common rewards were the pilgus and there's: 

former was given only to such gladiators as were slaves, for a token of 

their obtaining freedom. The rudis, which was a kind of rod or wand, 

nas to have been bestowed both enslaves and freemen; but with this 

cliliereh.ee, that it procured for the former no more than a discharge from 

3ny farther performance in public ; upon which they commonly~turned 

laiiisite, spending their time in training up, young fencers But the rudis, 

when given to such persons as beingfree, had hired themselves out tor these 

shows, restored them to a full enjoyment of their liberty. Both these sorts 

of rudiarii, being excused from farther service, hung up their arms in the 

pie of Hercnies, the patron of their profefsion, and were never called 

out again without their consent. Horace has given us a full account of 

tiiis custom in his first epistle to Maecenas: 

Prima dicle mihi, simima dicende Cavucva, 
Sfjtcfatimi .'■rd is ei et donation jam rude, quteris, 
LLeceuas,,iterum antiqvo me inciudere ludo. 



m eadem est tetas, noti mens, Fejauius, armis 



Herculis 



CICERO S OR.ATI- ,- - T 

clothes, and those few 

tered together; some of h 

mented there was any thin 

heirs of L. Rubriu 

sale. The knave was n 

he knew not. At thai 

man to Caesar's hi 

him ; of \ 

senate, complained. ( 

of your poverty, allowed y< 

meht. You did nut even then 

a gladiator, did you receive your di 

Sect. XXX. Need any one then be afraid 
is so very timorous in the | 
own fortune? At last, h to Spain ho \ 

it was with danger that he went. 1 ! 
trive to go? You either ought not to h.. 
Antony, or, having espoused it, ou 
the last. Thrice did Caesar fight witl 
saly, Africa, and Spain. In all these bal 
sent ; and in Spain he even received a wound. 1 
sentiments, I approve not of his conduct ; but yet 
on which he acts are only to be con 
serves commendation. But who are your Pom; 
first demanded to be restored to their country. V 
this we grant was a cause common to you with othe 
likewise demanded the restitution of their 
their property, and family estate, which you had 
these things were demanded by force of arms, 
a right to them by law, (though in such rioli n< pr 
there can be no justice;) yet still it was 
intruder upon Pompey's estate to light a 
"Was not you vomiting amidst your riotous feast- 
while Dolabella was fighting for you ii 
you return from Narbonne? Yet Anton I 

so suddenly from my tour. I have lately explained t< 
conscript fathers, the reason of my return ; I was willing to have 
done some service to my country, if pofsible, befi 
January. But as to the question, how I return 
in the first place, by day, and not by night; in the ne 
With a gown and shoes, without either p 



Herculis ad postern fix i $ , tus og ro : 

Ne populum cxtrcma totit 
(63) Nullis necgallicis nee lacerna.'] The cording to 1 

was a kind of shoe which the so] re in the camp ; * 



62S M. T. CICERONIS ORATIG.NES. 

At etiarn adspicis me, et quidem, ut videris, iratus: nx tu jan* 
Kiecum in gratiam redeas, si scias, quam me pudeat nequitia; 
tuac cujus te ipsum non pudet. Ex omnibus omnium iiagitiis 
nullum turpius vidi, nullum audivi; qui magister equitum fuife 
tibi viderere, in proximum annum consulatum peteres, vel po- 
,iius rogares, per 'm-unicipia., coloniasque Gallia?, a, qua nos turn, 
cum consulatus petebatur, non rogabatur, petere consulatum 
solebamus, cum gallicis et lacerna coneurristL 

XX^XL At vklete levitate m houiinis. Cum bora diei decima, 
fere ( 64 ) ad Saxa Rubro venifset, delituit in quadam cauponula, 
'atque ibi se oceultans, perpotavit ad v.esperum : inde cisio ce- 
leiiter ad urbem advectus, domumyenit capite involujto. Janitor, 
quis tu ? A Marco tabellarius. Confestim ad earn, cujus causa 
^enerai, deducitur, eique epistolam tradit: quam cum ilia lege- 
ret flens (erat cnim arnatorie scripta,: caput autem literarum, 
sibi cum ilia vnima posthac nihil futurum; cmnem se amorem 
abjecifse illin.e, atque in hanc transfudiise :) cum mulier fleret 
uberius, homo misericors ferre non potuit; caput aperuit; in 
coilum in vat it. O hominem nequam ! (quid enim aliud dicam ? 
raagis proprie nihil p.ofsum dicere:) ergo ut te £atarnitum, nee 
opinato cum ostendifses, prseter spem mulier aspiceret, ( 6s ) id- 
circo urbem terrore noeturno, Ltaliam muliorum dierummetu per- 
turbasti r et domi quidem causam amoris habuisti, foris etiam tur- 
piorea^ ( 66 ) ne L. Plancus praedes tuos venderet; productus 
autem in con.cionem a tribune plebis, cum respondifses, ( 67 ) te 
rei tua? causa. 'verufse, populum in te di.cacem etiam reddidisti. 

XXXII. Sed nimis multa de nugis; ad majora veniamus. 
Ca^sari ex Hispania redeunti obviam longifsime procefsisti: cele- 
riter isti,et redisti, ut cognosceret, te, si minus fortem, attamen 
strenttum : factus es ei rursus nescio quomodofamiliaris : habebat 
hoc omnio Caesar; quern plane perditum aa-ealieno egentemque, 
si eundum nequam hominem audacemque cognoverat, hunc 
in familinritatem libentifsime recipiebat. His igitur rebus praeclare 



which was a kind of short frock, was iirst used in the camp, though after- 
wards admitted into the city, and worn upon tLeir gowns, to defend them 
from the weather Cicero is very severe upon Antony, not for travelling 
in this military drefs, hut for entering the city, and appearing as a candidate 
for the consulship, in it. 

(64-) Ad Saxa Rubra icmfsct.~] This was a small village, situated between 
Home and Veil, in the Cafsjan way. See Lf-y, B. 2. c. 49. 

(65) Idcirco urbem terrore uocturno."] During Caesar's stay in Spain, An* 
tony set forward from Italy, to pay his compliments to him there, or to 
meet him at least on the road in his return towards home; but when he 
had made about half of the journey, he met with some despatches, which 
obliged him to turnback in all haste to Rome. This raised a new alarm 
3U the city, and especially among the Pompeians, who were afraid that 
C^sar, having new subdued all opposition, was resolved, after the manner 
of the former~conquerors, to take his revenge in cold blood on all his ad- 
versaries; and had sent Antony back, as the properest instrument tq 
execute some orders of that sort. 



Cicero's oratk r .'^ 

cloak. But you look upon me with an an 

you would be glad to be friends with m< 

much ashamed I am of your infamous b 

yourself are not in the l&ist i 

actions among men, never did 1 see, nevi 

that surpalsed this; that you-, who ! 

master of the horse, who I 

demanding the consulship, should pott thr< 

pal towns and colonies ot Gaul, in which w 

the consulship, while it was solicited, 

pattens and a short cloak. 

Sect. XXXI. But observe the levity - 
come to the Red Bocks about the tenth i 
slunk into atippling-sbop, and, concealing nun- 
hard till night : then driving to the city in his c 
he could, he came to his own house all muffled 
you ? says the porter : a letter-earner from i 
other Upon this he is immediately intro 
whose account he came, and gives her a letter, 
with tears, for it was indeed very tenderly written, 
stance of it was, that he would have nothing mo 
actrefs ; that he had laid aside all affection tor her, an I 
ferred it to his dear Fulvia. She continued sheddm 
plentifully : the tender-hearted man could no h 
he unmuffled his head, and flew to her arms. Infamous n 
for what else can I call you? a more proper epithet 1 
find out Was it then that a woman might unexpeel 
your suddenly discovering yourself, see a catamite, thai j 
felled the city Wh nocturnal alarms, and all 
for many days? At your own house, indeed, you might 
that love was the cause of your comio 
a "toe scandalous reason and it was tl 
distrefs your sureties. But, upon being brought into 
afsembly bv the tribune of the people, when v 
^u were come on account of your private atfairs, you 
the jest even of the populace. 

Sect XXXII. But wc have dwelt too long upon . ti 
us now proceed to things of greater importance. \ he 
was returning from Spam, vou was the most for 
m^meedng him j you went.and returned 
^him see, ha if you was not brave,. yc 
gsome^ans or other, you got ag 

"ZZZ~f Phnrus 1 This L Plancus was brother to Mai 

mirth of the populace. 



630 M. T. CICERONIS 0RATI0NES, 

coiii mend at as, jufsus es renuntiari consul, et quidem cum ipso J 
nihil qneror de Doiabella, qui turn -est impulsus, inductus, clu- 
sus. Qua in re quanta fuerit utrique vestrfim perftdia in Dola- 
bellam, quis ignorat? ille induxit, ut peteret: promifsum et 
receptum intervertit, ad sequc transtulit: tu ejus perfidies vo- 
luntatem ttiam adscripsisti. Veniunt kalenda>. Januariae: co- 
gimur in senatum : ( 6S ) invectus est copiosius multo in istum et 
paratius Doiabella, quam nunc ego. Hie autem iratus qua? 
dixit, dii boni? cum primum Csesar osiendifset, se, prius quam 
praricisceretur, Dolabeliam consulem efse jufsurum; quern ne- 
gant regem, qui et faceret semper ejusmodi aliquid, et dieeret : 
sea enm -Ctesar ita dixifeet, turn hie bonus augur eb se sacerdo- 
tio praiditum esse dixit, ut comitia auspiciis vel impedire, vel 
vitiare "poise t; idque se facturum efse afseveravit. In quo pri- 
mum iricredibilcm stupiditatem bominis cognoscite. Quid enim ? 
istimc, quod te sacerdotii jure facere pofse dixisti, si augur non 
elses, et consul efses, minus facere potuifses ? vide ne etiam fa- 
cilius: ( r °) nos enim nuntiationem solum habemus ; consules et 
reliqui magistratus etiam spectionem. Esto : boc imperite/nec 
enim ab bomine nunquam sobrio postulanda prudentia : sed vi- 
ciete impudentiam : multis antemensibus in senatu dixit, se Do-. 
labellae comitia aut prohibiturum auspiciis, aut id facturum efse, 
quod fecit: quisquamne divinare potest, quid vitii in auspiciis 
futurum sit, ( 7 °) nisi de cceio servare constituit ? quod neque li- 



(68) Invcctiis est copiosius multo in istum et paratius Doiabella, quam nunc 
ego-'] Cassar had promised the consulship to Doiabella; but, contrary to 
expectation, took it to himself. This was contrived by Antony, who jea- 
lous of" Doiabella as a rival in Caesar's favour, was constantly suggesting 
somewhat to his disadvantage, and labouring to create a diffidence of him 
m C*&ar. Doiabella was sensibly touched with the affront, and came 
full of indignation to the senate, where, not daring to vent his spleen on 
Csesar, he entertained the afsembly with a severe speech against Antony, 
which drew on many warm and angry words between them; till Caesar, to 
end the dispute, promised to resign the consulship to Doiabella, before -he 
Went to the Parthian war: but Antony protested, that, by his authority as 
augur, be would disturb that election whenever it should be attempted" 

(69) Nqs enim nuntiationem solum habemus; consider et reliqui magis- 
trates etiam spectionem.'] For the illustration of this pafsage, we shall insert 
Ferratius's note upon it, ' Ex numse regis instituto,' says he, 'jusnuntiandi 
' angures otinebant, ut si quid vitii advertifsent, comitia prohibere, neiie- 
' rent, et jam facta Unbare nuntiando pofsent; idemque legibus 12 ta- 
' bularum cautum est : Quceque -augur injusta, nefasta, titiosa, dirave dixerit; 

* irrita, injectaque simto. Cuilibet igitur magistratui auspicanti, antequam 
« cum populo ageret, aderat augur, eique in auspicio efse dicebatur ; quo 

* auctore, secundumne, an adversum elset augurium, intelligebat magistra- 
' Uis lire, qui comitia populi edixerat. Auguribus autem aiiquid nuntian- 
*" tibus parebatur, etiam si nihil vidifsent, et falsa ntiritiarent. Magistrati- 
< bus data erat per leges facultas servandi de ccelo, et cbauntiandi, cau- 

* tumque ne liceret agere cum populo, quo die de cce!o setvatum elset. 
' Quamobrem poterant impedire ne haberentur comitia aut ageretur cum 

* populo, et facere dies nefastos, obnuntiando se us de ccelo efse 
! seryaturos. Itaque augures polcrant impedire ne u berentur comitia, et 
'jam habita vitiare ; quia et ante, et post habita comitia ccntingebat, ut 



CICERO S ORATJ' 

But this was Caesar's true characl 

gent circumstances, and 

the same time an i 

received him - 

then to recommend 

even along with him 

who was then encouraged to stand i 

deluded. How pt i 

Dolabellain that affair, i 

him to sue foi it; b 

what 

nate-house : Dolabella im 
copiously and severely against this fellow, than 1 do 

But when he grew angry, good 

when Gesar first of all declared, 

give orders that Dolabella should be i 

man to have been a king, though h 

in this manner: but whenCcusar said so, this worthy augui 

us, t iat being invested with the 

auspices, of stopping or rendering void the elections 

dec! a*ed solemnly that he would exert this po 

here, in the first place, the wonderful stupiditj 

For how! had you not been augur, and vet b 

you have been lefs able to do that which you 

powered to do by your sacerdotal authority 

done it more easily. For we have only the I 

the consuls, and even the other magistrate 

spection. Well, let this be considered only 

consideration cannot be expected from one who 
k) ; but observe his impudence. Jle declared in I 
months before, that he would eil 
Delia's election by the auspices, or do that which In- 
done. Can any man foresee what defect I 
auspices, unlef's he has determined to 
this is not allowed by our laws, while the c< 



( viderent-aliquid, aut audirent. Non tamen ante tp 

* scire poterant, quid aut visuri efsent, aut audituri. 
' nimtiationim . Magislratus habebant spt 

* coelo, et impediendi ne populus ad comitia 
' tonius augures erant; hinc est quod illed'u 

(70) 'Nisi qui da coelo server c const it nit ?] W h 
Hon of his office, was to observe the heavi 
place; took the- augural staff (which was a 
in his hand, and marked out the four qu 
Then he turned to the 
right, and north to his left; and this is u ! 
coslg. In this situation he waited for a sign,, by thunder, 
or the wind. 



632 M. t. CICER.ONTS ORATIONES. 

cet comitiis per leges; et, si cmis servavit, non habitis comltiis, • 
seel onus quam habeantur, debet nu'ittiare : verum implicate in- 
ecitia impudentia est, si nee scit quod augurem, nee facit.quod 
pudentem decct." Atqtte ex ilio die recordamirii ejus usque ad 
idus Manias consttlatum '': quis uiiquam apparitor tam hum'ilis, 
tam abjectus? nihil ipse poterat: omnia ro'gabat: caput in aver-' 
sam lecticam inserens, beneftcia^qiiae venderet,' a collega petebat. 

XXXIII. Ecce Dolabellce comitir/ru'iri dies: ( 7 'j sortitio pree- 
pogatme ; quiescit: renuntiatur; tacet : prima ciafsis vocatur ; 
renuntiatur : dcindej utadsolet, sitffragatu'm secunda clafsis voca- 
tur : quae omnia citius sunt facta;' quam" dixi. Confecto negotio, 
bonus augur (Laelram diceres) ALIO DIE, iriquit. O mipu- 
dentiam singuiarem ( quid videras'? quid senseras? quid audie- 
ras? nee enim te de coslo servafse dixisti, n'equ'e hodiedicis: id 
igitur obvenit vitium, quod tu jam kalendis Januar. futumm efse 
praevideras, et tanto ante praxlixerasi Ergo, hercide, magna; 
ut spero^ tua. potius, quam reipablicre calaniitate, ementitus es 
auspieia: obstrinxisti popukim Romanum religione : augur ad- 
guri, consul consuli obnuntiavisti. Nolo plura, lie acta D'ola- 
bellae videar convellere, quae necefse est aliquando ad nostrum 
collegium deferantur. Sed arrogantiam hominis insolentiamque 
cognoscite : quamdiu tu voles, vitiosus consul Dolabella : rur- 
sus cum voles, salvis auspieiis creatus : si nihil est, cum augur 
iis verbis nuntiat, quibus tu nuntiasti ; confitere te, cum, ALIO 
DIE, dixeris, sobrium non fuilse : sin est aliqua vis in istis ver- 
bis, ea quae sit, augur a collega requiro. Sed ne forte, ex mul- 
tis rebus gestis M.- Antonii, rem unani pulclierrimam transiliat 
oratio, (7 A ) ad Lupercalia veniamus. 

XXXIV. Non difsimulat, P. C. apparet efse ; comir.otum ; sii- 
dat, 'pallet: quidlibet, modo ne nauseat, faciet, quod in porticu 



(71) Sortilio prerogative .]' By tne institution of. the comitia tenturiaia; 
(See Or. pro Murena, note 1st.) Servlus XulKtts secretly conveyed the 
whole power from the commons : for the centuries of the first and richest 
clafs being called out tirst, who were three more in 'number than all the 
r^st put together, if they all agreed, as generally they did, the businefs 
was already decided, and the other clafses were needlefs and insigniiicant. 
The commons, in the time of the free slate, to rectify this disadvantage, 
obtained, that before they proceeded to voting any matter at this comitia, 
that century should give their suffrages first, upon whom it fell by lot, with 
the name or omturia prerogative*. The other centuries had the appella- 
tion of jure vacate, because they were called out according to their proper 
places. 

(72) Ad Lupercalia <ceniamtts,~\ This festival was celebrated on the fif- 
teenth of February. Livy, Dionysius, Halicarnafseus, and Plutarch, tells- 
us, that it was brought by Evaader out of Greece. The ceremonies ob- 
served in it were of a verv singular nature. First, two goats and a dog were 
killed; then the foreheads of two young men of distinction were touched 

.with the bloody knife, and they were to laugh when they were thus 



CICfeRo's ORATIONS. 

and if arty augur lias observed them, he ought to declare then : 
not while the comitia are holding, but before, But his 
ranee and impudence go hand in hand; he neither k 
becomes an augur, nor does what is consistent with 
Recollect his consulship from that day to the id 
was ever beadle more submifsivc, more fawnm mid do' 

nothing of himself; he asked every thing, and thrusting his 
head into his colleague's litter behind, he petitioned for gra- 
tuities, which he afterwards made venal. 

Sect* XXXIII. The day for DolabeUa's election comet: the 
lots of the prerogative century are drawn ; he remains quiet: 
they are declared ; still he is silent. The first clafs is called; 
their vote is reported : then, as usual, the second clafs is called 
to vote : all this was done in leis time than I have taken up in 
relating it. When the businefs was over, this worthy auo-ur 
(you would have thought him another Lajlius) called out, ad- 
journ ! Unparalleled impudence! what had you seen ? what 
had you perceived? what had you heard? You neither then 
said, nor now say, that you was observing the heavens. There 
was, that defect therefore, which, so far back as the first of Ja- 
nuary, you had foreseen and foretold. I trust in heaven then 
you have belied the auspices to your own destruction, rather 
than that of your country. You inspired the Roman people 
with religious scruples : as augur, you made a declaration of 
the auspices to an augur ; as consul, to a consul. Til say no 
more on this subject, lest I should seem to shake the acts of 
Dolabella, which must necefsarily some time or other be brought 
before our college. But attend to the arrogance and insolence 
of the man. As long as you pleased, Dolabella was unduly 
elected ; and again, when you altered your mind, he was cre- 
ated with regular auspices. If, when an augur declares in the 
words you declared in, the words signify nothing, confefs that 
when you called out adjourn, you was drunk; if there is any 
significancy in these words, I desire you as a brother-au^ur to 
show me what it is. But, lest I should pais over one of the most 
beautiful of Antony's numerous exploits, let me proceed to I 
festival of the Luperealia. 

Sect. XXXIV. He is no hypocrite, conscript fathers; it is 
evident that he is now touched; he sweats, he grows pale: let 
him do what he pleases, provided he does not vomit, as he did 
in the Minutian portico. What apology can be made for so 

I m I IP i i i i, ■ ' — —— - -- _^_ 1 

touched. When this was clone, the skins of the victims were cut 
thongs and whips lor the young men; who, armed in this manner, an< 
vereo" onlv tvith a pair of drawers, ran about the city, and the fields, sink- 
ing all they met. The youtig roamed women suffered themselves t< 
struck by 'them, and believed those strokes were a help to fruitfutoefc, 



63 i M. T. CTCEB.0KTS ORATIONES. 

Minucia fecit: quae potest efse turpitudmis tantae defensio? cu~ 
pio audire ; ut videam, ubi rhetoris tanta merces, ubi campus 
Leontinus appareat. Sedebat in rostris collega tuus, amictus 
toga purpurea, in sella aurea, coronatus: adscendis; accedis ad 
sellam ; ( 73 ) (ita eras lupercus, ut te consulem efse meminifse 
deberes ;) diadema ostendis : gemitus toto foro : unde diadema ? 
non enira abjectum sustuleras, sed attuleras domo meditatum et 
cogitatum scelus. Tu diadema imponebas cum plangore po- 
puli : ille cum plausu rejicicbat. Tu ergo unus, scelerate, in- 
ventus es, qui, cum auetor regni efses, eum, quern collegam ha- 
bebas , don mmm habere ■ velles ; et idem tentares, quid populus 
Romanus ferre et pati pofset. At etiam misericordiam capta- 
bias : supplex te ad pedes adjiciebas r quid petens ? ut servires ? 
tibi uni peteres, qui ita a puero vixeras, ut omnia paterere, ut 
facile servires : a nobis populoque Romano mandatum id certe- 
non habebas. O prseclaram iilam elcquentiam tuam, cum es 
nudus concionatus ! quid hoc turpius ? quid fcedius? quid sup- 
piiciis omnibus dignius? num exspectas,dum te stimulis fodiam r 
haec te, si ullam partem habes sensus, lacerat, haec cruentat ora- 
tio. Vereor ne imminuam summorum virorum gloriam : dicam 
tamen dolore commotus : quid indignius, quam vivere eum qui 
imposuerit diadema ; cum omnes fateantur jure interfectum efse, 
qui abjecerit ? At etiam adscribi jufsit in fastis, ad Lupercalia^ 
C. C&SABI, DICTATORI PERPETUO, M. ANTONIUM 
CONSULEM POPULIJUSSU REGNUM DETULISSE, C;E- 
SAREM UTI NOLUISSE. Jam jam minime miror, te otium 
perturbare; non modo urbem odifse, sed etiam lucem; cumper- 
ditifsimis latronibus ( 74 ) non solum de die, sed etiam in diem vi- 
vere. Ubi enim tu in pace consistes ? qui locus tibi in legibus 
et in judiciis efse potest, quae tu, quantum in te fait, dominatu 
regio sustulisti ? Xdeone L. Tarquinius exactus ; Sp. Cafsius, 
Sp. Melius, M. Manlius necati; ut multis post seculis, a 
M. Antonio, quod fas non est, rex Romae constitueretur? Sed 
ad auspicia rede^mus. 



(73) Ita eras lupercus.] Csesar received from the senate the most extrava- 
gant honours, both human and divine, which flattery could invent. 
Among the other compliments that were paid to him, there was a new 
fraternity of Luperci instituted to his honour, and called by his name ; of 
which Antony was the head. Ca?sar, in his triumphal robe, seated himself 
in the rostra, in a golden chair, to see the diversion of the running; where, 
in the midst of their sport, the consul Antony, at the head of his naked crew, 
made him theofier of a regal diadem, and attempted to put it upon his head. 

(74) Non solum dedie, sed etiam in diem vivere.'] Vivere de die signifies to 
feast and live sumptuously every day : in diem vivere, to have no manner of 
thought or consideration ; to be regardlefs of futurity, and unconcerned 
about the censure or applause of the world. 



CICERO'S OK.vm. o. ^^ 

scandalous an action? 1 should bo glad to hear, t! 
what are the fruits of the Leontin 
he paid his rhetoric-master; Your i 
arrayed in a purple robe, upon a throne i 
on his head. You went up to him} you a] 
(though you was a lupereal, you ought to : 
that you was likewise a consul ;) you 
general groan lisued from tin- forum. \ 

that diadem? you did not pick it up in th 
from home the premeditated, the com- 
it on his head amidst the groans of the pi 
with universal applause. You then, villain, m 
son, who, alter having established tyranny, 
your colleague your master, and at the 
what the Roman people would endure. But you like 
plied to his compafsion, and threw yourself as a supplia 
feet: for what favour? that you might be a b1uv< 
should have asked for yourself alone, who have \i\\ 
childhood in such a manner as to bear any t 
tamely; from us, surely, or the people of Home, 
such commifsiom O that inimitable eloquence 
you harangued the people naked? what could be raoi'i 
dalous than this? what more shameful? what more w< 
the severest punishment? Do you expect that I am to fei 
you? If you have not lost all feeling, this speech must wound, 
must harrow up your soul. I am afraid lest I should lefseo the 
glory of the greatest of men ; yet the anguish of my soul \ 
not suffer me to be silent: what can be more shameful, than 
that he should live who bestowed a royal diadem, when all c 
fefs that he w>is justly slain who rejected it ? lie even prdej 
it to be entered in the public acts, at the time of the Lupercalia, 
that M. Antony, the consul, by command of the pi 
kingly power to C. Casdr, perpetual dictator; but that Ca 
fused it. Now, indeed, I am not in the least surprised that 
you disturb the public tranquillity ; that you not only hate the 
city, but the light of the sun; and that you live with the 
most abandoned rufftVujs, not only voluptuously, but without 
any manner of reflection. P'or where can you set your foot iu 
time of peace? what refuge can you have in laws and stati 
which you have done your utmost to abolish, by introdui 
gal authority? Was L. Tarquinius then banished; \ 
sius, Sp. Melius, M. Manlius put to death for this; that so ma 
ao-es after, contrary to all law, a king should be set up at Rouie 
by M. Antony ? But let us return to the auspices. 



Ss 2 



636 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES, 

XXXV. ( 7 *) De quibus rebus idibus Martiis fuit in senatu 
Caesar acturus, quaero turn tu quid egifses. Audiebam quidem 
te paratum veniise, quod nke de ementitis auspiciis, quibus ta- 
men parere neeefse erat,. putares else dicturum. Sustulit ilium 
diem fortuna populi Romani : num etiam tuum de auspiciis, ju- 
dicium interitus Caesaris sustulit? Sed incidi in id tempus, quod 
iis rebus, in quas ingrefsa erat oratio, prsevertendum est. Quse ., 
tua fuga 1 quae formido prseclaro illo die ! quae propter conscien- 
tiam scelerum desperatio vitge,cum ex ilia fuga, beneficio eorum, 
qui te, si sanus efses, salvum efse voluerunt, clam te domum re- 
ccpisti ! O mea frustra semper verifsima auguria rcrum futura- 
rum I dicebam illis in eapitolio liberatoribus nostris, cum me ad 
te ire velleut, ut ad defendendam rempublicam te adhortarer ; 
quoad metueres, omnia te promifsurum^ ^fmul ac timere desi- 
iises, similem te futurum tui. Itaque (? 7 ) cum cseteri consulares 
irent, redirent, in sententia mansi: neque te illo die,, neque 
postero vidi: neque ullam societatem optimis eivibus cum im- 
portunifsimo hoste fcedere ullo eonfirmari pofse credidi. Post 
diem tertium veni in aedem Telluris, et quidem invitus, cum 
omnes aditus armati obsiderent; qui tibi ille dies, Antoni, fuit! 
quanquam mihi subito inimicus exstitisti, tamen me tui miseret,. 
quod tibi invideris. 

XXXVI. Qui tu vir, dii immortales! et quantus fuifses, si il- 
lius diei mentem servare potuifses ! pacem haberemus, quae erat 
facta per obsidem puerum nobilem [M. Antonii nlium] M. Bam- 
balionis nepotem : quanquam te bonum timor faciebat, non diu- 

"turni magister officii ; improbum fecit ea, quae dum timor abest, 
a. te non discedit, audacia: etsi turn, cum optimum te puta- 

(76) De quibus rebus idibus Martiis fuit in senatu Ccesar acturus.'] When 
Caesar had prepared every thing for his expedition against the Parthians, 
before his departure he resolved to have the regal title conferred upon him 
by the senate, who were too sensible of his power, and obsequious to his 
will, to deny him an> thing; and to make it the more palatable at the 
same time to the people, he caused a report to be industriously propagated 
through the city, of ancient prophecies found in the Sibylline books,, that 
the Parthians could not be conquered but by a king; on the strength of 
which, Cotta, one of the guardians of these books, was to move the senate 
to decree the title of king to him. As this was to be part of the senate's 

o businefson the occasion here mentioned, Cicero is supposed to ask Antony 
' what he- would have done in the affair ; but, as Appian tells us, that Caesar 
intended to propose the validity of Dolaoella's election to the senate's con- 
sideration, it is more probable that Cicero refers to his. 

(77) Cum aeteri consulares irent, redirent. ,] Mr. Guthrie, in a note on 
this pafsage, observes, that the commentators have made very botching a or k 
of it. Irens, redirent, according to him, signifies no more than that the other 
consulars altered their way of thinking oj Antony, sometimes to one tray , some- 
times to another ; and by ego in sententia mansi is meant, he says, that Cicero 
still kept in the same way of thinking. The attentive reader may easily 
perceive that this is making very botching work of the pafsage, the sense of 
which is extremely obvious. Brutus, deceived by Antony's artful conduct. 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 631 

Sect. XXXV. Let me ask you how you would have behaved 
an the businefs which Osar was to have transacted in the sen 
on the ides of March. I was told indeed that you came pi 
pared, because you thought I would speak about the ncUtlO 
auspices, which yet there was a necefsity of obeying. 1 
fortune of the people of Rome prevented the transact 
that day 3 but did the death of Caesar destroy the ju 
pafsed concerning the auspices? But I have touched upon 
juncture which I must speak concerning, before I go on with 
what I had begun to treat of. How you tied, how you trem 
led on that day ! how the consciousnels of your guilt made ) 
despair of life, while out of the general rout you conveyed your- 
self privately to your own house, by the favour of those who 
meant that you should be safe, could you have had discernment 
enough to perceive it! O my vainly unerrmg foresightot turn 
events! I told those brave deliverers of ours in the capitol, when 
they desired me to go and exhort you to the detenus of the 
state, that while you was afraid, you would promise every thing ; 
but as soon as your apprehensions were over, that you wouki 
act like yourself. Therefore, while the other consular wen; 
backward and forward, I remained fixed in my P«*P°ff> * 
neither saw you on that, nor the following day ; nor did I think 
it pofsible that an union could be established by any ties what- 
soever, betwixt the best of citizens and the most inveterate 
enemy of the state. Three days after I came to the temple ot 
Tellus, and indeed unwilling y , as all the avenues o it were 
blocked up by armed men. What a day, Mark Antonj , was 
that for you! though you suddenly became mv enemy, yet t 
pity you, because you are an enemy to yourselL 

Sect. XXXVI. Immortal gods! how good, how great a man 
you might have heen, could you have preserved a due J*men> 
Lance of that day! We might have had a peace that ™m*j> 
by a noble youth, the son of M. Antony and grandson «* 
M Bambalio. Though fear made you good tor aw lie, vc^c 
SstS was soon removed ; that audaciousne^ which never , 
serts you when fear is absent, rendered you a villain. And € 
SSe 5 when men thought hest of you, thongnlstiUdni, 

^mediately after M ^^i^^T^lJ^ ^ 
posed .ending a dem itatioa to hii , toexbo in . and could 

bicero remonstrated HPj*^** KZuUtUMlj to that uh.le ll» 
not be prevailed upon to bear • ^ r ^in U rf?a£d back*ardi as mediator. 

manifest violence to it. 

^3 



638 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIOtfES, 

bant, me quidem difsentiente, ( 78 ) funeri tyranni, si illud funus 
ftiit, sceleratifsime pratuisti: tua ilia pulchra laudatio, tua 
miseratio, tua cohortatio : tu, tu, inquam, illas faces incendisti, 
et eas ? quibus semiustulatus ille est, et eas ( 7 9) quibus incensa 
L. . Bellieni domus deflagravit ; tu illos impetus perditorum ho- 
mium, et ex maxima parte servorum, quos rios vi manuque re- 
pulimus, in nostras domus immisisti. Idem tamen, quasi fuligine 
abstersa, reliquis diebus in capitolio prajclara senatusconsulta 
fecisti, ne qua post idus Martias immunitatis tabula, neve cujus 
beneficii figeretur. Meministi ipse de exsulibus; scis de im- 
munitate quid dixeris: optimum vero, quod dictaturae nomen in 
perpetuum de republica gustulisti; quo quidem facto tantum te- 
jeepifse odium regni videbatur, ut ejus omnem, propter proxi- 
mum dictatorem ? tolleres metum ; constituta respublica videba- 
tur aliis, mihWero nujlo modo, qui omnia, te gubernante, nau- 
fragia nietuebarn. Num me igitiir fefellit ? aut num diutius sui 
potuit efse difsimilis? inspectantibus vobis, toto capitolio tabu- 
lae figebantur : neque solum singulis vemebant immunitates, sed 
etiam populis universis ; civitas non jam sigillatim, sed provin- 
ces totis dabatur. itaque si base manent, quae stante republica 
manere non p.oisunt, provincias universas, P. C. perdidistis : 
neque vectigalia solum, sed etiam imperium populi Romanihu- 
jus domesticis nundinis diminutum est. 

XXXVII. Ubi est septies millies sestertium, quod in tabulis, 
quae sunt ad Opis, patebat? Funestae illius quidem pecuniae; 
sed tamen ? si iis, quorum erant, non redderentur, quae nos a 
tributis potent yindicare. Tu autem H. S. quadringenties, 
quod - idibus ' 'Marti is debuisti, quonam modo ante kalendas 
Apriles debere desiisti ? [Quid ego de commentariis infmitis, 
quid de innumerabilibus chirographis loquar ?] Sunt ea quidem 
iimumerabiiia, quae a diversis emebantur non insciente te: sed 
umim egregium ( so ) de rege Dejotaro, pppulo Romano ami- 
cifsimo, decretum in capitolio fixum : quo propositi), nemo crat, 
qui in ipso doliire risum pofset continere. Qiuis enim cuiquam 
ininjiciqr, quam Dejotaro Caesar? aeque atque huic ordini, ut 
eqtiestri. ut Mafsiiiensibus ? ut omnibus, quibus rempublicam 

XT8) Funeri tyranni scehratifsime prccfuisti»~] Antony procured a decree 
of the ,eu:Ue tor allowing a public funeral to Caesar, as being the best op- 
portunity of inflaming the soldiers and the populace, and raising some 
commotions to the disadvantage of the republican cause ; in which he suc- 
ceeded so well, that Brutus and Cafsius had no small difficulty to defend 
their lives and houses from the violence of his mob. 

(79) Quibus hicensa Z. Bellieni don\us dejlagravit.'} The populace, excited 
by the spectacle of Cesar's body, and the eloquence of Antony, who made 
the funeral oration, committed numberlefs acts of violence; and, amongst 
others, set fire to the house of this Bellienus, who was a senator. 

(80) Pe rege Dejotaro, populo Romano amicifsi?no.~] Dejotarus was king of 
Galatia, and a 'faithful ally of Rome. For his adh.eren.ee to Pompey, he, 
was deprived of part of his dominions by Caesar, at whose death his agents 
at Rome bargained with Antony for the sum of eighty thousand pounds tc 



cicero's orati'> 

■torn them, you wickedly presided al th« 
S^Mght be Called. 'Vou, 
Sf that pity, your, that exhorta 
KdAose«ands with which h 
iiTSu.se Ty which the house of L. 

and burnt down. You it was who I. 
ofv t hrabandohedvulains,forthe, 

^SorSfeve.fl^thesutevh^l 
to have conceived such an aversio. 



to have conce.vca ». iw» » 

diffe 5ei t were mV sentiments ; for, while you w. 

Traded an universal wreck. Was 1 then misl 
I^eaaeUanum ^ 

he any bngei be pMtfe mms 

there, which,, u ^£*W£ only our reven 

c * XXXVII What is become of the 5,000, 

indeed were his treasure*, but J ct tl.cj 

to those to whom ^ *^^K>o 
ns from our taxes. W^„ ,,. 
March owed above th rtv *™ftW& i ', > ,;„•„„ , 
•before the first ol Attril. *$ i, im , m( ,,,!, lt irkl( 
number ot writings and "^ff™ lcdTO) W1 ... 
favours, which, not ™Jcmt J° m ^ » : • cQn 

^. & f^\r^t^o"C Human 

Dqotanw, the tatUW" to 

up in the capitol ; at the signt o 

son who c^.«*«2iSS?SS e "- 
concern. *™J™£-*^ wh om be bate. 

.rthtXra^rdtheUemm 



640 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

populi Romani caram efse sentiebat, Igitur a quo vivo, nee 
praesens, nee absens, rex Dejotarus quidquam aequi boni impe- 
travit, apud mortuum factus est gratus, fcompeltarat hospitem 
praesens, computarat, pecuniam imperarat, in ejus tetrarohiarn 
unumexGraecis comitibus suis collocaret; Armeniam. absfculerat 
a senatu datam ; haec vivus eripuit, reddidit mortuus ; at quibus 
verbis? modo sequum sibi videri, rnodo non iniquum: mira ver* 
borum complexio; at ille nunquam (semper enim absenti affui 
J)ejotaro) quidquam sibi, quod nos pro illo postularemus,aequum 
dixit videri. Syngrapha H, S. centies per legatos virps bonos, 
sed timjdos et imperitos, sine nostra, sine reliquorum hospitum 
regis sentential, facta in gynaeceo; quo in loco plurimae res ve- 
nterunt et veneunt; qua ex syngrapha quid sis acturus meditere 
penseo. Rex enim ipse sua sponte, nullis commentariis Caesaris, 
simul atque audivit ejus interitum, suo Marte res suas recuperar 
vit; sciebat homo sapiens, jus semper hoc fuifse, ut, quae tyr 
ranni eripuifsent, ea, tyrannis interfectis, ii, quibus erepta efsent, 
recuperarent. Nemo igitur jureconsultus, ne iste quidem, qui 
tibi uni est jureconsultus, per quern h&c agis, ex ista syngrapha 
deberi elicit pro, iis rebus, quae erant ante syngrapham recupe- 
ratae ; non enjm a te emit ; sed prius, quam tu suum sibi ven- 
tures, ipse pofeedit. Ille vir fuit: nos quidem contemnendi, 
qui auctorern odimus, acta defendimus. 

•■ XXXVIII, Quid ergo de commentariis infinitis, quid de in- 
numerabilibus chjrographis loquar? quorum etiam imitatpres 
sunt, qui ea, tanquam gjadiatorum libellos, palam venditent. 
Itaque tanti * acervi nummorum apud istum construunter, ut 
jam appendantur, non numerentur, pecuniae. At quam caeca 
avaritia est ! nuper fixa tabula est, qua civitates locupletifsimae 
Cretensium vectigalibus liberantur : statuiturque, ne post M. Brur 
turn proconsulem sit Creta proyincia. Tu mentis es com-r 
pos? tu non constringendus ? an Caesaris dpcreto Creta post 
M. Bruti decefsum potuit liberari, cum Creta nihil ad Rrutum, 
Caesare vivo, pcrtineret ? At hujus venditione decreti, de nihil 
actum putetis, provinciam Cretam perdidistis. Omninp neinp 



cicero's orations. 

Marseilles, and all who had the interest of their country at bi 
King Dejotarus then became the favourite of a man when di 
from whom, when alive, he could never obtain the least favour 
or justice, either present or absent. While ( 
prosecuted Dejotarus who entertained him at his couri 
him, extorted money from him, placed one of I k at- 

tendants over his dominions, and took away Armenia fi 
which had been given him by the senate: all this, wh\\i 
earth he deprived him of, after his death lie restored. .Hut 
words did he make use of to justify sueh a proceeding J I 
while he says, that it seems reasonable to him; another, 
unreasonable. A strange way of talking! but Cesar n 
that any thing seemed reasonable to him which we a*k< 
jotarus, for whose interest I always appeared in his absence. A 
promilsory note for above 78,000/. without my knowledge, or 
that of any of the king's friends, was, by his ambafsador*, good 
men indeed, but unexperienced, drawn up in Fulvia's apartment, 
where many other things have been, and still are, prostituted u> 
sale. J think you should consider well, what you are to do witli 
this note. For the king, of himself, without having recourse to 
airy of Caesar's papers, as soon as he heard of ins death, re- 
covered what belonged to him by his own bravery. As he was 
a wise prince, he knew well that what tyrants took away, the 
injured party, upon the death of the tyrant, had a right to re- 
cover, No lawyer, then, not even that fellow, who is employed 
as a lawyer by none but you, and who advised you to this step, 
pretends that his note gives you a title to what was recovered 
before it was granted : for he did not buy it of you ; but was in 
pofsefsion of it, before you sold him what was his own. He 
acted like a man ; we, like despicable poltroons : for we detest 
the tyrant, and yet defend his acts. 

Sect. XXXVIII. Why then should I mention the numberlefs 
^memorandums and notes of hand, which several persons even 
make it their businefs to counterfeit, and sell as pubhclv as if 
they were glad iatprs bills? Hence it is, that such prodigious 
heaps of money are now piled up at his house, that it is weighed 
out, not told. But how blind is. avarice! A bill is lately stuck 
up, by which the richest cities of Crete are exempted from 
jtaxes; and it is decreed, that after the proconsulate of M. Bru- 
tus, Crete shall be no longer a province. Are you in your 
senses? ought you not to be bound ? Can Crete, bv ai 
of Caesar's, be macje free, after the proconsulate of Brutus, 
JSrutus had nothing to do with Crete while Ca-sar \v 
But, lest you should think there js nothing in this, you I 
by the traffic of such a decree, actually lost the |> 
Crete. In a word, never was any thing bought, that Antony is 

i 



€42 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sillius rei fuit emptor, cui defuerit hie venditor. Et de exsuli- 
bus legem, quam fixisti, Caesar tulit ? nullius insector calamita- 
tem : tantum queror, primum eorum reditus inquinatos, quo- 
rum causam diisimilem Caesar judicaverit: deinde nescio, cur 
reliquis idem non tribuas : neque enim plus quam tres aut qua- 
tuor reliqui sunt : qui simili in calamitate sunt, cur tua, miseri- 
cordia simili non fruuntur ? cur eos habes in loco patrui ? de 
■quo ferre, cum de reliquis ferres, noluisti; quern etiam ad cen- 
suram petendam impulisti, eamque petitionem comparasti, quae 
et risus horn mum, et querelas moveret. Cur autem ea comitia 
non habuisti? ( Sl ) an quia tribunus plebis sinistrum fulmen nun- 
ciabat? cum tua quid interest, nulla auspicia sunt; cum tuo- 
rum, turn sis religiosus? Quid! eundem ( 82 ) in septemviratu 
nonne destituisti? intervenit enim: quid metuisti ? credo, ne 
salvo capite negare non poises: omnibus eum contumeliis one- 
Fasti, quern patris loco, si uliain te pietas efset, colere debebas; 
Sliaaat ejus, sororem tuam ejecisti, alia conditione quaesita, et 
ante perspecta : non est satis; probil insimulasti pudicifsimam 
femmam ; quid est, quod addi pofsit? contentus eo non fuisti; 
frequentifsimo senatu kalendis Jan. sedente patruo, hanc tibi 
efse cum Dolabella odii causam ausus es dicere, ( 83 ) quod ab eo 
£orori et uxori tuae stuprumoblatum efse comperifses. Quis in- 
terpretari potest, impudentior-ne, qui in senata; an improbrior, 
qui'in Dolabellam. ; an impurior, qui patre audiente; an cru- 
delior, qui in illam miseram tarn spurce tam impie dixeris ? 

XXIX. Sed ad chirographa redeamus : quae fuit tua cognitio ? 
acta enim Caesaris pacis causa confirmata sunt a senatu : quae 
quidem Caesar egifset, non ea quae Caesarem egifse dixifset An- 
toiiius. Unde istaerumpunt? quo auctore proferuntur ? si sunt 
falsa, cur probantur? si vera, bur veneunt? At sic placuerat ut 
ex kalendis Juniis de Caisaris actis cum consilio cognosceretis.' 
Quod fuit consilium ? quern unquam advocasti? quas kalendas 
Junias exspectasti r an eas, ad quas te, peragratis veteranorum 
•coloniis, stipatum armis retulisti? O praeclaram illam percur- 

(S I) Anquia iribunus plebis sinistrum fulmen nuntiabat f] When thunder 
was heard to the left, it was looked upon as a happy presage, upon every 
other occasion but that of holding the comitia, when it was deemed an un- 
happy one. 

(S2) In sepiemviratu nenne destituisti .?] Seven commifsioners, called the 
■septemviriy wer^ appointed for taking care of the feasts appointed in honour 
or the gods. It is probable, however, that Cicero here means one of the 
seven commifsioners appointed after C&sar's death tor dividing the Cam- 
panian and Leon tine lands. 

(83) Quod ab eo sorori et uxori tuce stuprum oblatum efse comperifses.'] 
Antony's declaring that the ground of his quarrel with Dolabella, was his 
having caught him in an attempt to debauch his wife Antonia, the daugh- 
ter of his uncle, was probably without any foundation, and contrived only 
to colour his divorce with her, and his late marriage with Fulvia, the wi- 
dow of Clodius. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 

|not ready to sell. Did Ciesur too pafs the law con 
which you stuck up? I insult no man upon 
only complain, in the first place, that t 
thought to be different, have 
tooting as to their return from banishment : in th 
I cannot perceive why you should not extend this 
tor there are not above three or tour exc 
those who are involved in the same calamity, b 
objects of your companion ? why do von tn 
your uncle, whom you would not pardon, v, 
the rest; whom you urged however to stand I 
and drew up a petition lor that purpose, wlu< 
laughter and indignation of mankind } Bui 
hold that.comitia? was it because a tribune of 
dared that it thundered to the left? V. 

is concerned, the auspices are considered as nothing; when 
that of your friends, then you are strictly What ! 

did you not desert him, when he put up for hem. mvir ? 

But he asked for his money ; what was you afraid oi 
could not refuse to pay him, I suppose, if he was oner 
You loaded a man with all manner of reproaches, whom you 
ought to have revered like a father, had you had the le 
of, filial piety. Hi's daughter, your own cousin, you turned 
away, having first looked out and bargained for another m 
Yet this was not enough : you defamed a woman of tin 
honour. Could any thing be added to tins ? yes, j 
farther still. You had the afsurance to say, on the I 
nuary, in a full senate, where your uncle was present, that the 
sground of your enmity to Dolabella was your having found out 
that he attempted to debauch your cousin and u 
determine which was the greatest on this occasion, 
pudence in the senate, your villany against Dolabella, your in- 
delicacy before your father, or your cruelty in us 
and unbecoming language against an unfortunate lady r 

Sect. XXXIX. But let us return to the notes of hand. 
How came you to take these tilings under your cognizance? 
for Caesar's acts were confirmed by the senate, for t i 
peace; at least what Caesar enacted ; not what Antony says he 
enacted. Whence are they ifsued ? by whose autl 
they produced? If fictitious, why are they approv. 
genuine, why are they exposed to sale ? But it w- | 

upon, that, from the first of June, the consuls should, ui 
sistants, take cognizance of Caesar's acts. Who 
sistants? whom did you ever summon ? what kalends of June 
did you wait for ? Those, when, having made a tour th: 
all the colonies of the veterans, you returned to Rom 
tended by armed men ? What a glorious tour that was of yours, 



644 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

fcationem tuam mense Aprili at que Maio, turn, ( 84 ) cum etiam 
Capuam deducere coloniam conatus es! quemadmodum illinc 
abieris, vel potius pene non abieris, vel potius pene non abieris, 
scimus : cui tu urbi minitaris ; utinam conere, ut aliquando illud 
PENE tollatur. At quam nobilis est tua ilia peregrinatio ? quid 
yrandiorum apparatus, quid furiosam vinolentiam tuam pro- 
ieram? tua ista detrimenta sunt, ilia nostra. Agrum Campa- 
num, qui cum de vectigalibus eximebatur, ut militibus daretur, 
tamen infiigi magnum reipublicse vulnus putabamus : hunc tu 
compraneoribus tuis, et collusoribus dividebas ; mimos dico et 
mimas, P. €. in agro Campano collocatos. Quid jam querar 
de agro Leontino ? quandoquidem hae quondam arationes, Cam- 
pana et Leontina, in populi Romani patrimonio grandi faenore, 
et fructuosae ferebantur. Medico tria millia jugerum, quasi te 
sanum fecifset ; rhetori duo, quasi disertum iacere potuifset. 
Sed ad iter, Italiamque redeamus. 

XL. Deduxisti coloniam Casilinum, quo Caesar ante dedux- 
erat. Consuluisti me per literas de Capua tu quidem (sed idem 
de Casilino respondifsem) pofsesne, ubi colonia efset, ea coloni- 
am novam jure deducere : negavi in earn coloniam, quae efset 
auspicato deducta, dum efset incolumis, coloniam novam jure 
deduci : colonos novos adscribi pofse rescripsi : tu autem, in- 
solentia, elatus> omni auspiciorum jure turbato, Casilinum cplo- 
niara deduxisti, quo erat paucis annis ante deducta, ut vexillum 
tolleres, et aratrum cireumduceres ; cujus quidem vomere por- 
tam Capube pene perstrinxisti, ut florentis colonise territorium 
minueretur. Ab hac perturbatione religionum advolas (* s ) in 
M. Varroiiis, sanctifsimi atque integerrimi viri, fundum Cafsi- 
natem: quo jure? quo ore? eodem, inquies, quo in haeredum 
L. Lubrii, quo in baeredum L. Turselii prsedia, quo in reliquas 
innumerabiles pofsefsiones. Et si ab hasta, valeat hasta, valeant 
tabulae, modo Caesaris, non tuae : quibus debuisti, non quibus tu te 
liberuvisti. Varronis quidem Caisinatem fundum quis veniifse 
dicit ? quis bastam istius venditionis vidit ? quis vocem praeconis 
audivit ? misifse te dicis Alexandriam, qui emeret a Caesare; ip- 



(84) Cum etiam Capuam coloniam deducere conatus es.~\ Antony, in order 
to engage the veteran soldiers to his service, wanted to give them the Ca« 
puan lands, and to settle a Hew colony there. He went to Capua, in 
order to divide the lands ; but the inhabitants made a vigorous resistance, 
and had almost put him to death. 

(85) In M. Varronis> sanctifsimi ptgue integerrimi viri."] Varro was a 
senator of the first distinction; both for birth and merit ; Cicero's intimate 
friend, and esteemed the mo?t learned man of Home. He had served as 
Pompey's lieutenant in Spain, in the beginning of the war ; but after the 
defeat of Afranius and Petreius, quitted his arms, and retired to his studies. 



CICERO S ORATIONS. 6J5 

in the months of April and May, when you attempted to settle 
a colony at Capua ? How you left that place, or rather ho 
near you were never to have left it, we all know. JToutb 
that city. I wish you would proceed 10 far as thai i I 

just now mentioned, may be no looser nm 1 t a 

noble progrefs that was of yours! Why should] in „r 

grand entertainments, or your excefsire .Junk in 
your lofs, the other ours. When the land 
exempted from taxes, that they might b< the 

soldiers, we thought a deep wound was given to ti, itu- 

tion; but you divided them among your fellow-deb. 
gamesters. Actors and actrefscs," I Ba; 

now settled in the territories of Campania. Why should I now 
complain of the Leontine lands? and yet tl ere 

once a rich inheritance to the Roman people, and brought in a 
large revenue to the public treasury. Three thousand acres to 
a physician, as if he could have made you sound ; two thousand 
to a rhetoric-master, as if lie could pofsibly have made vou elo- 
quent. But let us return to your journey, and to Italy. 

Sect. XL. You settled a colony at Casilinum, where C 
had settled one before. You consulted me indeed by K tt 
concerning Capua, (I should have returned you the same 
as to Casilinum,) whether you could lawfully introduce a new 
colony into a place where a colony had been already settled. I 
denied that a new colony could lawfully be introduced, whil 
colony that was settled by proper auspices was unimpaired ; but 
I wrote you word, that new planters might be added to the 
former. But you, elated with pride, and disregarding all the 
laws of auspices, settled a colony at Casilinum, where one I 
been planted a few years before, that you might raise a stand- 
ard, and drive round a plough, whose share almost grazed upon 
the gate of Capua, that you might lel'sen the territory of a 
flourishing colony. From this violation of what was 
flew to the Cafsinian estate of M. Varro, a man of the [ 
honour and integrity. By what right? with what The 

same, you will say, with which you seized upon t 1 of 

the heirs of L. Rubrius and L. Turselius ; with which vou thi 
yourself into a great many other pofsefsions. You bought this 
estate at a sale, you will say : let the sale be legal, let the b 
be legal, provided they be Caesar's, not your own ; those In which 
you was a debtor, not those by which you cleared \ 

But who can say that Varro s Cafsinia 

ever saw that sale ? who heard the voice of theaucn Vou 

say that you sent a person to Alexandria, to buy it ol 

for it would have been too long, it seems, to v 



1 

646 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

sum enim exspectare magnum fuit : quis vero auclivit unquam 
(nuliius autem saius curae plauribus fuit) defortUnisVarronis rem 
ullam efse detractam ? Quod si etiam scripsit adte Caesar, ut red- 
deres ; quid satis potest clici de tanta impudentia ? Remove 
gladios illos parumper, quos videmus: jam intelliges, aliam 
causam efse hastes Caesaris, aliam confidentias et temeritatis tuae ; 
non enim te dominus modo illis sedibus, sed quivis amicus, vi- 
einus, hospes, procurator arcebit. 

XLI. At quam multos dies in ea villa turpifsime es perbac- 
cbatus ? ab bora, tertia bibebatur, ludebatur, vomebatur. O 
tecta ipsa misera, quam dispart domino ! quanquam quomodo iste 
dominus ? sed tamen quam a dispari tenebantur ! studiorum enim 
suorum M. Varro voluit efse illud, non libidinum diversorium : 
quee in ilia, villa anteo dicebantur ? quae cogitabantur ? quae Uteris 
mandabantur ? jura popuii Romani, monumenta majorum, omnis 
sapientias ratio omnisque doctrina. At vero, te inquilino (non 
enim domino) personabant omnia vocibus ebriorum : natabant 
pavimenta vino : madebant parietes: ingenui pueri cum meri- 
toriis, scorta inter matres-familias versabantur. ( s5 ) Cafsino. sa- 
lutatum veniebant, Aquino, Interamna: admifsus est nemo ; jure 
id quidem. In homine enim turpifsimo obsolebant dignitatis 
insignia. Cum inde Romam proficiscens ad Aquinum accede- 
ret, obviam ea procefsit (ut est frequens municipium) magna 
sane muititudo ; at iste operta lectica latus est per oppidum, ut 
mortuus. Stulte Aquinates ; sed tamen in via habitabant : quid 
Anagnini? qui, cum efsent devii [obviam ei] descenderunt, ut 
istum, tanquam si efset consul, saiutarent : incredibile dictu est ; 
tamen inter omneis constabat, neminem efse resalutatum ; prae- 
sertim cum duos secum Anagninos haberet, Mustellam et Laco- 
nem ; quorum alter gladiorum est princeps, alter poculorum. 
Quid ego illas istius minas contumeliasque commemorem, qui- 
bus invectus est in Sidicmo^? vexavit Puteolanos, quod C. Cas- 
sium,quodBrutospatrouos adoptafsent: magno quidem judicio, 
studio, benevolentia, caritate ; non ut te, (* 7 ) ut Basilum, vi et 
armis, et alios vestri similes, quos clientes nemo habere velit, 
non inodo efse illorum cliens. 



(86) Cafsino salutatum veniebant, Aquino, Interamna.] Cafsiiium was a 
town of Campania, now called Monte Cafsino. Aquinum was a town of 
the Latins, near Samnium; it was the place of Juvenal's birth, and is now 
called Aquino. Interamna was a town of Campania, not far from Aqui- 
num; it derived its name from its situation between the rivers Melpis 
and Liris. 

(87) Ut Basilum."] This Basilus, it seems, was a person of a very infamous 
character, and a great temporizer; as appears from his joining Pompey in 
the civil wars, and afterwards afsociating himself with Antony. 



cicero's orati< 
should come to Rome. But who c \ 
no man for whose welfare the publi< 
any part of Varro's estate wsi 
appear that Caesar wrote to you to , 
bad enough of such monstrous impud 

swords a little which are now before tuU in- 

stantly see the diilerence b. 
a sale, and your audacious presumption 
prietor of that estate, hut any friend, 
steward of his, shall have it in his power to 

Sect. XLI. Yet for how mai.v . rc _ 

vel in that villa? from the third h 
drinking, gaming, and vomiting. <) U ut'< 
what a different muster mis then 
the master? yet how unlike its fori:. 
intended it should be a retreat for study, and n< 
lewdnefs In that villa, what was formerly the 
versation ? what of meditation ? what was commitfc 
The constitution of Home; the monuments of 
every subject of learning and philosophy. Jiut while 
tenant there, (for you was not master,) noth 
but the noise of drunkards; the pavements 
were stained with wine; free-born youths of lib. 
Were confounded with catamites, and matrons 
strumpets. People came from Caisinum, Aquinum, and fn- 
teramna, to pay you their compliments: not one was aduii 
And this indeed was right: for the ensigns o 
were disgraced by so infamous a fellow, in his return 
thence to Rome, when he came to Aquinuc 
(for it is a populous town) came out to meet him ; bul 
carried through the streets in a covered J, 
dead. The inhabitants of Aquinum acted foolishly ; 
could they do? they lived on the road. But what sh i 
of the Anagnini? who, though they lived off the i 
came down and complimented him, as if he had JlV a 

consul. It is incredible to relate, yet ail agree that he retu 
no compliments; which is the more surprising, as he had two 
inhabitants of Anagni in his train, Mu Stella a I 
an excellent fencer, the other an excellent drinkei 
I mention the threats and abuses he threw on 
cinians? He opprefsed the inhabitants of Pu 
themselves under the patronage of C. Cafsius e Bruu ; 

which they certainly did from principle, from inclination, . 
friendship, and affection ; not from dread and terror, v. 
forced them to follow you and Basil us, whom n 
choose as clients, much lei's as patrons. 



648 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

XLH. Interea dum tu abes, qui dies ille collegse tui fuit, cum 
illud, quod tu venerari solebas, bustum in foro evertit r qua re 
tibi nuntiata, ut constabat inter eos, qui unafuerunt, concidisti : 
quid evenerit postea, nescio : metum credo valuifse, et arma. 
Collegam quidem de coelo detraxisti ; effecistiqucnon tu quidem 
etiam nunc, ut sit similis tui, sed certe ut difsimilis efset sui. 
Qui vero reditus inde Romam ? quae perturbatio totius urbis? 
( 8 *) memineramus Cinnam nimis potentem ; ( 8 «) Syllam postea 
dominantem, Csesarem regnantem videramus: erant fortafse 
gladii, sed ii absconditi, nee ita multi ; ista vero quae et quanta 
barbaria est? agmine qua3drato cum gladiis sequuntur milites: 
scutorum lecticas portari videmus. Atque his quidem jam in- 
veteratis, P. C. consuetudine obduruimus; kalendis Juniis, cum 
in senatum, ut erat constitutum, venire vellemus, metu perter- 
riti repente diffugimus : at iste, qui senatu non egerct, neque 
desideravit quemquam, et potius discefsu nostro laetatus est, sta- 
tim ilia mirabilia tacinora effecit: qui chirographa C&esaris de- 
fendifset lucri sui causa, is leges Csesaris, easque praxlaras, ut 
rempublicam concutere pofset, evertit ; numerum annorum pro- 
vinciis prorogavit; idemque, cum actorum Csesaris defensor 
efse deberet, et in publicis, et in privatis rebus acta Csesaris 
rescidit. In publicis actis nihil est lege gravius : in privatis firmis- 
simum est testamentum. Leges alias sine promulgatione sustu- 
3it : alias, ut tolleret promulgatas, promulgavit. Testamentum 
irritum fecit: quod etiam infimis civibus semper optentum est; 

(88) Memineramus Cinnam nimis potentem.] China was a person of con- 
sular dignity, cotemporary with Sylla, whose decrees, in his absence, when 
he was attempting to reverse, he was driven out of Rome by his colleague 
Octavius, with six of the tribunes, and deposed from the consulship. 
Upon this he raised an army, and recallecHVlarius, who, having joined his 
forces with him, entered Rome in a hostile manner, and with the most 
horrible cruelty put all Sylla's "friends to the sword, without regard to 
a § e > dignity, or former services. 

(89) Syllam postea dominantem.] Sylla was descended of a noble and 
patrician family, which yet, through the indolence of his ancestors, had 
made no figure in the republic for many generations, and was almost sunk 
into obscurity ; till he produced it again into light, by aspiring to the 
honours of the state. Marius and he served as lieutenants in the Marsic 
or social war, where Sylla distinguished himself by his courage and bravery, 
and, as a reward of his services, was raised to the consulship. A civil war 
breaking out soon after betwixt him and Marius, in which he had the ad- 
vantage, he revenged himself in the most barbarous manner upon the Ma- 
rian faction ; and by the detestable method of a py'oscription, of which he 
was the first author and inventor, exercised a more infamous cruelty in 
Rome, than had ever been practised in cold blood, in that, or perhaps in 
any other city. As soon as the proscriptions were over, he was declared 
dictator, without any limitation of time. Being invested by this office with 
absolute authority, he made many useful regulations for the better order of 
the government; and by the plenitude of his power, changed in a great 
measure the whole constitution of it from a democratical to an aristocra- 
tical form, by advancing the prerogative of the senate, and deprefsing that 
of the people. That he might not be suspected of aiming at a perpetual 
tyranny, and a total subversion of the republic, he suffered the consuls to 



CICERO'S ORATI'. 

Sect. XLII. In the mean time, du 

glorious day was that to your Colleague, when he d< 
that monument in the forum, whi< 

the news of which, we are told by tl 
fainted away. What happened after that', I known 
pose, fear and the dread of arms thru prevailed. N 
your colleague down from that gloriou 
merit had raised him, and rendered him not 
indeed, but surely very unlike lo Dol 
your return from thence to Home I 
whole city thrown into? We remembered Cinna 
we had seen Sylla afterwards fyrani 
the usurpation of Oa;sar. These had .words 
were sheathed, and few in number. Bui on 
detestable, and how great were the barbariti< 
Battalions of soldiers, with swords in their hands, folio 
and we saw litters carried along, filled with bi 
objects, conscript fathers, were so frequenl 
us, that we became quite insensible to them. On tl 
June, when We would have met in the senate, accord 
pointment, struck with sudden fear, each of us tied. B 
who neither wanted a senate, nor wished for the counsels of any 
person, but rather rejoiced at our departure, immediately put in 
execution those wonderful acts of his. lie who had defended 
Cesar's notes while he could gain any thing by it, abol 
Ceesar's laws, and those salutary ones, that he might overthrow 
the constitution. lie prorogued the number of years for 
ing provinces; and this man, who ought to have been tfa 
fender of Caesar's acts, repealed them ; both those of a public. 
and those of a private nature. In public affairs, no- 
more weight than a law ; in private, nothing of greater fore i 
a will. Some laws he abolished without promulgation ; i 
he stuck up, that he might abolish those already promulged. Me. 
made a will of no effect; which is always valid 
the meanest citizens. The statues and pictures, which ( 



be chosen In the regular manner, and to govern, as usual, in all th< 

nary affairs of the city ; whilst he employed himself particularly 

ing the disorders of the state, by putting Ins new law, in 

afterwards laid down the dictatorship, and restored liberty to tl 

and with an uncommon greatnefs of mind, lived many mo 

senator, and with perfect security, in that c.tv where he had - 

most bloody tyranny. Cicero, though he had a good opinion 

vet detested the inhumanity of his v.ctory ; and never speak of nun *ttb 

respect, nor of his government but as a proper tyranny ca ng 

master of three mosf pestilent vices, luxury, avarice, and crui 

before his death, he made his own epitaph, the sum of wh < h 

man had ever gone belaud him, in doing good to hts friends, 01 



enemies. 



Tt 



650 M., T. CICERONIS ©RATIONES. 

sig.ua, tabulas, quas populo Ceusar una cum hortis legavit, eas 
hie partial in hortos Pompeii deportavit, parti in in villain Sci- 
pionis. 

XLIII: Et tu in Caesaris memoria diligens ? Tu iilum amas 
mortuum? quem is majorem bonorem conseeutus erat, quam ut 
haberet pulvinar, simulacrum, fastigium, tlaminem? Est ergo 
flamen, vit Jovi, ut Marti, ut Quiririo, sic Divo Julio Marcus 
Antonius? Quid igitur cefsas? cur non inaugurare? Sume diem : 
vide, qui te inauguret: collegae sumus; nemo negabit. O de- 
testabilem hominem, sive quod tyranni sacerdos es, sive quod 
vnortui! Quaero deinceps, num hodiernus dies qui sit ignores ? 
nescis, ben quartum in Circo diem ludorum Romanorum fuifse? 
te autem ipsum ad populum tulifse, ut quintus praBterea dies 
Csesari tribueretur? ( 9 °)-Curnon sumus praetextati? cur honorem 
CcEsari tua lege datum deseri patimur? An supplicationes ad- 
dendo diem contaminari pafsus es, pulvinaria noluisti ? aut un- 
dique religionem tolle, aut usquequaque conserva. Quaeres ; 
placeatne mihi pulvinar else, fastigium, flaminem ? mihi vero 
nihil istorum placet. Sed tu, qui acta Caesaris defendis, quid 
potes dicere, cur alia defendas, alia non cures? nisi forte vis 
fateri te omnia quaestu tuo, non illius diguitate metiri. Quid 
ad h*c tandem ? exspecto eloquentiam tuarn ; difsertifsimum 
cognovi avum tuum ; ( 9 ') at te etiam apertiorem in dicendo: 
ille nunquam nudus est concionatus ; tuum hominis simplicis 
pectus vidimus. Respondebisne ad hsec? aut omnino hiscere 
audebis? ecquid reperies ex tarn loriga oratione mea, cui re re- 
spondere poise confidus? Sed pretterita omittamus. 

XLIV. Hunc unum diem, hunc unum, inquam, hodie. 
diem, hoc puuetum temporis, quo loquor, defende, si potes. 
Cur armatorum corona seuatus septus est? cur me tui satellites 
cum gladiis audiunt? cur valvar Concordia? non patent? cur 
homines omni um gentium maxime barbaros, Ityraeos, cum 
sagittis deducis in forum ? Praesidii sui causa, se facere elicit. 
Nornie igitur millies perire est melius, quam, in sua civitate sine 
' armatorum praesidio non pofse vivere ? Sed nullum est istuc, 
mihi crede, presidium; caritate et benevolentia civium septum 
oportet else, non ariuis. Eripiet, extorquebit tibi ista populus 



(90) Cur non sumus pnetextafi ?] Such Roman senators as were, actual 
magistrates ol' the city, as the consuls, pra?tors, a^ducs, tribunes, &c. during 
the'year of their magistracy, always wore ihc praitexta, or a gown bordered 
round with a stripe of purple; in which habit also, all the rest of th 
nate who had already borne those offices, used to afsist at the public festi- 
vals and solemnities. 

(91) At. te etiam apertiorem hi dicendo.~\ Cicero here alludes to Antony's 
haranguing naked during the festival of the Lupercalia. • There is an am- 
biguity in the original, which it is scarce pofsible to preserve iu an English 
translation. 



CICERo's ORATI* 

together with his gardens, had left as 
people, he carried off, partly to Pomp 
Scipio's country seat. 

Sect. XLIII. And are vou watchful i 
do you love him even in the grave? What higher ho 
he poisibly attain to, than to have a shrine, . 
lion, and a priest? As Jupiter, as Mars, 
their priests, is M. Antony priest to the deifit 
you stop here? why are not you consec Appoint a 

look out for some person to con 

nobody will oppose it. Detestable wretch, whethei ( : 

as the priest of a tyrant, or of a dead man! 1 . 
whether you know what a day Are vou it that 

yesterday was the fourth day of the Roman games in I 
that you yourself proposed to the peopli Jd be 

dedicated to Csesar? Why then are we not in our proper i 
why do we suffer an honour conferred on Cp?sar, bv your law, 
to he neglected? Can you, who have suilercd a day to be pro- 
faned by adding- supplications, deny him shritu 
stroy religion in every respect, or maintain it in all. You will 
ask, perhaps, whether I approve of a shrine, a pavilion, and a 
priest? I approve then of none of them. But you, who ( l< 
Cpesar's acts, what reason can you afsign for defending some, 
and neglecting others? unlefs indeed you confcis that you mea- 
sure every thing by your own interest, not by his dignity. What 
answer can you make to these things? I long for 
your oratorical talents. I know that your grandkV 
of great eloquence: but he was not so perspicuous in 
us yon are. He never harangued naked ; bur. 
plainnefs and simplicity, that you laid open your ;om to 

our view. Will you make no answer to this r won't \ i 
much as venture to open your mouth ? is there i in this- 

long oration of mine, which you think you can au | kit let 

us omit what is past. 

Sect. XUV. Defend, if you can, this one day caent 

day, I say, this very instant of time, in which 1 
speaking. " Why is the senate beset with a b armed 

men? why do your guards now hear me with swor 
hands? why are not the doors of the tern;,, 
thrown open ? why do you bring into the forum 
armed with darts'; a race the most savage of all 
He answers, that lie does it t'ov his own safety. Is it I 
then to undergo a thousand deaths, than not to I 
in your own country without an arxed guard ? Bti 
that is no guard. "The hearts and affections of vour I 
zens, and not vour arms, must, be your pi 



652 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

Romanus, utinam salvis nobis ! sed quoquo modo nobiscurri 
egeris, dum istis consiliis uteris, non potes else, mihi crede, diu- 
turnus ; eternal ista tua minime avara conjux, quam ego sine con- 
tumelia describo, ( 9 *) nimiuin debet diu populo Romano tertiam 
pensionem. Habet populus Romanus ad quos gubernacula rei- 
publicae deferat ; qui ubicunque terrarum sunt, ibi est omne 
reipublicae presidium, vet potius ipsa respublica, quaese adhuc 
tantummodo ulta est, nondum recuperavit: habet quidem certe 
respublica adolescentes nobilifsimos, paratos defensores; quam 
volent, illi cedant, otio consulentes ; tamen a republica revoca- 
buntur. Et nomen pacis dulce est, et ipsa res salutaris ; sed 
inter pacem et servitu'tem plurimum interest: pax est tranquilla 
libertas; servitus malorum omnium postremum, non modo, sed 
inorte etiam repellendum. Quod si seipsos illi nostri liber- 
atores e conspeetu nostro abstulerunt ; at exemplum facti reii- 
querunt; illi quod nemo fecerat, fecerunt. Tarquinium Brutus 
belle est persecutus ; qui tamen rex fuit, cum efse Romae regem 
licebat. Sp. Cafsius, Sp. Melius, M. Manlius, propter suspi- 
cionem regni appetendi sunt necati: hi primi cum gladiis, non 
in regnum appetentem, sed in regnantem impetum fecerunt ; 
quod cum ipsum factum per se prseclarum atque divinum est, 
turn expositum ad imitandum ; praesertim cum illi earn gloriam 
consecuti shit, quae vix ccelo capi pofse videatur. Etsi enim 
satis in ipsa conscientia pulcherrimi facti fructus erat, tamen 
mortali immortalitatem non arbitror contemnendam. 

XLV. Recordare igitur ilium, M. Antoni, diem, quo dicta- 
turam sustulisti : pone ante oculos latitiam senatus populique 
Romani : confer cum hac nummatione tua tuorumque ; turn 
intelliges, quantum inter laudem et lucrum intersit. Sed nimi- 
rum, ut quidam morbo aliquo et sensus stapore suavitatem cibi 
non sentiunt; sic libidinosi, avari, facinorosi vera? laudis gusta- 
tum non habent. Sed si te laus allicere ad recte faciendum non 
potest, ne inetus quidem a fuediisimis factis potest avocare. 
Jud\cia non metuis ; si propter innocentiam kudo ; si propter 
vim, non intelligis, ei, qui isto modo judicia non timeat, quid 
timendum sit ? Quod si non metuis viros fortes, egregiosque 
cives, quod a. corpore tuo prohibentur armis ; tui te, mihi 
crede, diutius non ferent. Quee est autem vita, dies et noctes 



(92) Nhniimi debet diu populo Romano tertiam pensionem.JFuUia, who was 
Antonv's wile, had had three husbands, Clodios, Curio, ar.d Antony. The 
first was killed by Milo; the second, being sent by Osar againlt Juba, king 
of Mauritania, \\as defeated and killed; and Cicero here prognosticates 
the death of her third husband Anton 



CICERo's ORATIONS. 

of Rome will take away, will wrest these from 
I hope with safety to us all. But whatever way you dual 
us, while you pursue such measures, your reign", bcl. 
will be but short. For too long has your gene 
whom I mention without the least reflection, owed t: :( - third 
debt she has to pay to the Roman people. Ron 
still leit, whom she may safely trust with the i 
vernment: in whatever partsofthe world they arc, there dv. 
all the safety of this state, or rather the si 
yet only avenged herself, not recovered her 
Our country has indeed youths of the greatest quality, ready 
to defend her. -Though it has been thought expedient for ti 
to retire, out of regard to the public tranquillity, yet ti 
country will recal them. Even the name of peace is pieasii 
and peace herself is salutary ; yet between peace and servitu 
there is a wide difference. Peace is the tranquillity of liber 
servitude the worst of all evils, to be repelled not only by foi 
but by death itself. But though these brave delive ours 

have withdrawn themselves from our sight, yet have they left a 
a, glorious example : they have done what no one ever did be- 
fore. Brutus made war upon Tarquin, who was king at a time 
when it was agreeable to the Roman constitution to have kin 
Sp. Cafsius, Sp. Melius, M. Manlius, were put to death on a 
suspicion of affecting royalty. But our deliverers are the first 
who have drawn their swords, not against one who a 
royalty, but one who was in actual poisefsion of it : an action, 
which as it is glorious and divine in itself, so is it worthy of 
our imitation, especially as the authors of it have acquired such 
glory as heaven itself seems scarce wide enough to contain. For 
though the consciousneis of a glorious deed is a sufficient reward, 
yet immortality, 1 think, ought not to be contemned by a mortal. 

Sect. <XLV. Call to mind then, M, Antony, that day when 
you abolished the dictatorship: set before your eyes the joy of 
the senate and people of Rome: compare these objects with the 
treasures you and yours have hoarded up; then will you per- 
ceive the difference betwixt' profit and applause. But a 
persons, through sicknefs and a stupefaction of the jse 

all taste for the most savoury food ; so the lustful, the covetous, 
the wicked have no relish for true glory. But if glory cannot 
allure thee to virtuous deeds, has fear nothing to restrain thee 
from the most scandalous actions ? Judiciary proceedings thou 
dost not regard: if this proceeds from a consciou in- 

nocence, I commend it ; if through a sense of thy power, do 
thou not perceive how much the man has to fear who entertains 
such a disregard? But if you are above dreading brave men, and 
good citizens, because your arms protect you ; yet, 
me, your own creatures will not endure you any longer. And 

1 t j 



$M M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

tirnere asuis? nisi vero majoribus babes benefices obligator, 
quam iilo quosdam babuit ex iis, a, quibus est interfectus. An 
tu es ulla re cum eo comparandus ? ( 93 ) fuit in ilio ingenium, 
ratio, memoria, lrtene, cura, cogitatio, diligentia ; res beJlo 
gefserat, quamvis reipubliece calamitosas, attamen magnas : 
multos annos regumremeditatus,magno iabore, magnispericulis, 
quod cogitarat, efFecerat: muheribus, monumentis, congiariis, 
epulis, multitudinem imperitam deienieicit : suos praemiis, 
( 9+ ) adversaries clementisc specie devinxerat. Quid multa ? at- 
tulerat jam Liberae civitati, partim metu, partim patientia, con- 
suctudinem serviendi. 

XLVL Cumilloego te dominandicupiditateconferrepofsum: 
crctens vero rebus nullo moJo e.> compavandus. Sed ex plori-* 
mis malis, quae ab ilio reipubiicae sunt ip.usta, hoc tamen boni 
est, quod didicit jam populus Rouianus, quantum cuique crede- 
ret, quibus se committeret, a quibus caveret. Hacc igitur non 
cogitas ? nee inteliigis, satis efse v iris fortibus didiciise, qnam 
sit re pulchrunij benencio gratum, fama glor osum, tyrannum 



(93) Fuit in ilio ingeniwn , ratu , memoria> literce.'] We have here a very 
fine encomium upon Ca'sar, wvhom Cicero describes as pofsefsing many 
great and noble qualities. Nature indeed had formed him to excel in 
peace, as well as war: he was provident in council ; fearlefs in action ; ge- 
nerous beyond measure to his friends ; and, for parts, learning, and elo- 
t$ence; scarce inferior to any man His orations were admired for two 
qualities, which are seldom found together) strength and elegance: Cicero 
fanks him among the greatest orators that Rome ever bred ; and Quinti- 
lian saVs, thai he spoke with the samejorce with which he fought ; and ij he 
had devoted himself to the bar, would have been the only man capable qj rival- 
ing Cicero. Nor was he a master only of the poli'ei arts ; but conversant 
also with the most abstruse and critical parts of learning; and among other 
v:orks which he published, addrefsed two books to Cicero, on the analogy 
ef language, or the art of speaking and writing correctly. He was a most 
liberal patron of wit and learning, wheresoever they were found ; and out 
of his love of those talents, would readily pardon those who had employed 
them against himself: rightly judging, that by making such men hi? friends, 
he should draw praises from the same fountain from which he had been 
aspersed. His capital pafsions were ambition and lo?e of pleasure, which 
he indulged in their turns to the greatest excels: yet the^rst was always 
predominant; to which he could easily sacrifice all the charms of the se- 
cond, and draw pleasure even from toils and dangers, when they ministred 
to his glory. For he thought tyranny, as Cicero sa)s, the greatest oj god- 
dejses ; and had frequently in his mouth a verse of. Euripides, which ex- 
prefsed the image of his soul, that if right and justice were ever to be violated, 
the)/, were to be violated for the sake of reigning. This was the chief end 
. arid purpose of his life, the-scheme that he had formed from his early youth; 
•*o that, us Cato truly declared of him, he came with sobriety and meditation 
to Inn subversion of the republic. He used to say, that there were two tfti?igs ne- 
tefsary to acquire and support power , soldiers and money ; w hich yet depended 
mutually on each other* with money, therefore, he provided soldiers ; and 
\vith soldiers he extorted money : and was of ail men the most rapae.' 
In plundering both friends and foes; sparing neither prince nor state, nor 
temple/ nor even private persons, who were knovw; to pofseffi any share cj" 



CICfRo's OR.V1 tO 

trfiaf a life is it to be u itmual ap] 

tlav from your own p 

gatiamm you, than tW who put < 

But are you in any I 

had genius, sense, memory, learning, I 

and activity: his achieve, l " 

toS were vet great in I 

usurpation or many yea^s, at len 

aS^e accomplished his de 

K and entertainment,, he 

£& his friends he obliged by his « 

by a snow of clemency, tea wonT, partly b 

patience, lie brought a fete state to a I 

Sect XLVI. As to the lust of po 
compared xvith h.m, though in, to o.l.e; 
rUo. hold But, from the numberlefe , 

their guard •g^^^i f or brave men 

CXCrbeS'^on^n Use,, the... 

killing a tyrant? When they cm ^^ 

^S^^I-Lt^^ulL^e,, 

his reign to a violent end. • fainxerai .1 C«ar h 

celebrated bv his flatterers for, clement , which seen ,^ 

af S nmed,and not a real ^^"^^pprehend, to p< 

character, wiUfind »^y d^iheu t s eapi , ^ up<J 

he who was guilty of the gr* " ^ 

Ihg his country, touU haverel mquisi 

gltle methods had tailed hmi, a h ' a I I 

and vengeance. After bavmg seen now 

their pergonal cruelties, no woiuiei that hesl > u 



656 M. T, CICERONIS ORATI0NES. 

occidere ? an, cum ilium homines non tulerint, te ferent ? cer^ 
tatim posthac, mihi crede, ad hoc opus curretur, nee occasionis 
tarditas exspectabitur. Itespice, quseso, aliquando rempublicam, 
M. Antoni : quibus ortus sis, non quibuscum vivas, considera: 
mecum,ut votes; cumrepublica, redi in gratiam. Sed dete tu 
ipse videris : ego de me ipso profitebor ; defendi republicani 
adolescens, non deseram senex ; contempsi Catilinse gladios, 
non pertimescam tuos. Quin etiam corpus libenter obtulerim, 
si repracsentari morte mea libeutas civitatis potest ; ut aliquando 
dolor populi Romani pariat quod jamdiu parturit. Etenim si 
abhinc annos prope viginti hoc ipso in templo negavi, poise 
mortem immaturam efse consular}, quanto verius nunc negabo 
senir Mihi vero, P. C. jam etiam optanda mors est, perfuncto 
rebus iis, quas adeptus sum, quasque gefsi. Duo modo ha;c 
opto : unum, ut moriens populum Romanum liberum relin- 
quam ; hoc mihi majus a, diis immortalibus dari nihil potest: 
alteram, ut ita cuique eveniat, ut de republica quisque me^ 
reatur. 



CICERO $ ORAT1 

those with whom you live ; behave towai 

be no longer an enemy to 

concerns; as lor inc., 1 will make* t:. 

tended the state in my youth, i 

old age; I dtt^pis 

yours. Nay, 1 v. 

death the' liberties of Rome coultl 

and the Roman people could 

load they have been so long in lab< 

years a°-o I declared in thi 

be untimely to me, when C 

I make that deelaratiou now that 1 ai 

script fathers, death is now even desirable, 

nours I have obtained, and the duties I ! 

things only I wish for: the first is, that I ma 

people free; and a greater blelsing than 

cannot bestow upon me : the < ery ~ 

warded as he has deserved of l;is country. 



man 



ORATIO XVII. 



IN M. ANTONIUM PHILIPPICARUM*. 
PHILIPPICA NONA. 



I. T TELLEM, dii immortales fecifsent, P. C. ut vivo potius 
V Servio Sulpicio gratias ageremus, quam mortuo honores 
quaereremus* Nee vero dubito, quin, si iile vir legationem re- 
nuntiare potuifset, reditus ejus et nobis gratus Fuerit, etreipub- 
licse salutaris futunxs: non quo L. Philippo et L. Pisoni aut 
studium aut cura defuerit in tanto officio tantoque munere; sed 
cum Servius Sulpicius setate ilios anteiret, sapientia omnes, 
subito ereptus e causa totam legationem orbam et debiiitatam 
reliquit. Quod si cuiquam Justus honos habitus est in morte 



* Servius Sulpicius was of a noble and patrician family, of the same age, 
the same studies, and the same principles with Cicero, with whom he kept 
Up a perpetual friendship. They went through their exercises together 
when young, both at Rome, and at Rhodes, in the celebrated school of 
Molo: whence he became an eminent pleader of causes, and pafsed through 
all the great offices of state, with a singular reputation of wisdom, learning, 
and integrity; a constant admirer of the modesty of the ancients, and a 
reprover of the insolence of his own times. When he could not arrive at 
the first degree of fame as an orator, he resolved to excel in what was next 
to it, the character of lawyer ; choosing rather to be first in the second art, 
than the second only in the first: leaving, therefore, to his friend Cicero the 
field of eloquence, he contented himself with such a share of it, as was suf- 
ficient to sustain and adorn the profefsion of the law. In this he succeeded 
to his wish, and was far superior to all who had ever profefsed it in Rome, 
being the first who reduced it to a proper science, or rational system; and 
added light and method to that which all others before him had taught 
darkly and confusedly. Nor was his knowledge confined to the external 
forms", or the effects of the municipal laws; but enlarged by a comprehen- 
sive view of universal equity, which he made the interpreter of its sanctions, 
and the rule of all his decisions; yet he was always better pleased to put 
an amicable end to a controversy, than to direct a p?ocefs at law. In his 
political behaviour he was always a friend to peace and liberty ; modera- 
ting the violence of opposite parties* and discouraging every step towards 
civil difsention ; and-in the war between Caesar and Pompey, was so busy 
in contriving projects of an accommodation, that he gained the name of 
the pesce-maker. Through a natural timidity of temper, confirmed by « 



ORATION XVII. 



THE NINTH AGAINST M. ANT( 



Sect. I. T Wish, conscript fathers, the imm 

X if in oiu' power to return thanks to the li 
Siilpicuis, rather than to decree honours to his m 
have I the least doubt, but if that great man could 
from his embafsy, his return would have been 
ns, and beneficial to the state: not that L. Philippu 
L. Piso were wanting in .diligence or attention in the disci] 
of so important an office and trust; but as Ser. Sulpiciu 
ceeded them in years, and all men in wisdom, his being cut i 



profefsion and course of life averse from arms though he preferred Pom- 
pev's causesis the best, he did not care to tight for it ; but taking C 
to be the strongest, suffered his son to follow that c Imp, while lie himself 
continued quiet and neuter: for this he was honoured by Catsar, yet 
never be induced to approve his government From the time of t 
death, he continued still to advise and promote ali nieasui 
likely to establish the public concord. He with L. Philippu 

L. Piso, both consular senators, upon an embafsy to Antoi e him, 

in the name of the senate, to quit the siege of fej om all 

hostilities in Gaul; but died before he reached Ante en the 

news of his death was brought to Rome, Panja called th< 
to deliberate on some proper honours to be decreed to hi 
spoke largely in his praise, and advised to pa\ him all t ; 
had ever been decreed' to any who had lost their lives 
country: a public funeral,' sepulchre, and Statue. 
next, agreed to a funeral and monument; but v 
only to those who had been killed by yiplence i 
babies. Cicero was not content with this; but 
to the man, as well as regard to the pubUc &er ■■ 
honours paid to him winch the occasion conic 
therefore to Servilins, he shows ii; this oratiou 
that the case of Sul|ricius was the same with 
- been killed on the account of their , 
Cicero's desire, granted the si h we are told b 

third centurv, remained to hi, time in the rostra of Auj 
Urn was delivered in the year of Rome 710, and « 



660 M, T. CICERONIS ORATIQNES. 

legato, in nullo justior, quam in Ser. Sulpicio, reperietur. Cscn 
tari, qui in legatione mortem obierunt, ad incertum vitae peri- 
culum, sine ulio mortis metCi, profecti sunt: Ser. Sulpiciiis cum 
aliqua perveniendi ad M. Antonium spe profectus est, nulla 
ftiftertendi ; qui cum :ta afTectus efset, ut, si ad gravem valetu- 
dineni labor viae acceisifset, sibi ipse difsideret, non recusavit 
quo minus vei extremo spiritu, si quam opem reipublicae ferre 
poiset, experiretur. Itaque non ilium vis hiemis, non nives, 
non longitudo itineris, non asperitas viarum, non morbus in- 
gravescens retardavit : cumque jam ad congrefsum colloquium-, 
que ejus perveniiset, ad quern erat mifsus; in ipsa cura et me- 
ditatione obeundi sui muneris excefsit e vita. Ut igitur alia, 
sic hoc, C. Pansa, praeclare, quod nos ad ornandum Ser. Sul- 
picium cohortatus es, et ipse multa copiose de illius laude dix- 
isti ; quibus a te dictis, nihil prseter sententiam dicerem, nisi 
P. Servilio respondendum putarem, qui hunc honorem statuae 
nemini tribuendum censuit, nisi ei qui ferro efset in legatione 
interfectus. Ego autem, P. C. sic interpretor sensifse majores 
nostros, ut causam mortis censuerint, non genus efse quaeren- 
dum. Etenim cui legatio ipsa morti ruifset, ejus monumentum 
exstare voluerunt ; ut in bellis periculosis obirent homines le- 
gationis munus audacius. Non igitur exempla majorum quse- 
renda, sed consilium est eorum, a quo ipsa exempla nata sunt, 
explicanduni. 

II. ( J ) Lar Tolumnius, rexVeientium, quatuor legatos populi 
Romani Ficlenis interemit ; quorum statute in rostris steterunt 
usque ad nostram memoriam: Justus honos; iis enim majores 
nostri qui ob rempublicam mortem obierant, pro brevi vita, 
diuturnam memoriam reddiderunt. Cn. Octavii, clari viri et 
magni, qui primus in earn familiam, quse posteaviris fortifsimis 
floruit, attuiit consulatum, statuam videmus in rostris; nemo 
ftuiii novitati invidebat, nemo virtutem non honorabat. At ea 
fait legatio Octavii, in qua periculi suspicio non subefset. Nam 



(1) Lat Tolumnius, rex Veientium.^ In the year of Rome 315, the Fide* 
nates, threw off the Roman yoke, and put themselves under the protection 
of Tolumnius, king of the Veientes; by whose orders they murdered four 
, anibafsadois, whom the Romans sent to them to ask the reason of their 
conduct So enormous a proceeding was followed by a bloody war; the 
brave Mamercus /Enlilius was nominated dictator, and defeated the Ve- 
ientes and Fide nates, with the Falisci, who joined them in a pitched battle. 
Tolumnius was slain in the action by Cornelius Cofsus, a legionary tribune 
■who stripped him of his armour arid royal robes; and these spoils, called 
opima spoli'a, Cornelius afterwards carried on his shoulders in the dictator's 

2 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 661 

suddenly, left the embafsy man 
honours have ever been decreed to an 
death, they can be due to none more I 
Others, who have died during their emb i 
any certain hazard of their lives, without 
death: Ser. Sulpicius set out with boo 
tony, but with no hopes of returni 
bad a state or' health, that fa- 
should add the fatigue of ajournej to hi 
refused not to try, if with In 
vice to his \ , 

winter, ti i the length oi the joi 

the road'-, nor nis increasing indisp 
and when he had readied t 
died the very moment he was 
with him, and di 

C. Pansa, as well as on all other occasions, you nai 
by exhorting us to honour the men 
by speaking so copiously in his praisi 
I should add nothing, and only dee 
that I think it necefsary to reply to P. S who has 

vered it as his opinion, that tlie honour i 
to those who have been killed by violence in the di& 
their embafsy. But, in my opinion, conscript fathei 
not the manner, but the cause of the death that cur anc 
garded: for they granted a monument to bin 
caused by his embafsy, that in dangerous wai - men might un- 
dertake the office of ambafsador with greater cheerful n 
are not to seek precedents then from our ancestors, but 
the intentions of those from whom those very precedents sprung. 

Sect. II. Lar Tolumnius, king of the Veientes, put to d< 
at Fidena?, four ambafadors of the Roman people, who* 
I remember to have seen in the rostra. And this boi 
due to them; for as they had suffered death on a- 
country, our ancestors, for the lite they had lost, a In 
best, rendered their memory lasting. The i 
vius, an illustrious and great man, who first in 
sulship into that family, which has since been fruitful i 
bravest of men, we still behold in the re 
time, envied new men; virtue was bono 
was the embafsy of Octavius, ti 



triumph, and then deposited them in I 
were the second of the sort known in I?< 
mulus, who killed king Acron in . 



662 M. T. CICERONIS ORATtOftES. 

cum efcet mifsus a senatu ad animos rcgum perspiciendos Iibe- 
rorumque popalorum, (') maxhneque ut nepotem Antiochi re- 
gis, ejus qui cum majoribus nostris belium gefserat, daises ha- 
bere, eiepbantos alere prohiberet, Laodiceae in gvmnasio a quo- 
dam Leptine est interfeetus. lleddita est ei turn a majoribus 
statua pro vita, qua? multos per annos progeniem ejus honestaret, 
nunc ad tantse familiar memoriam sola restaret. Atqui et huic, 
et Tullo Cluvio, et Lucio Roscio, et Sp. Antonio, et C. Fulcinio, 
qui a. Veientium rege ca?si sunt, non sanguis, qui est profusus 
in morte, sed ipsa mors ob rempubiicam obita, honori fuit. 

III. Itaque, P. C. si Ser. Sulpiclo casus mortem attulifset, 
dolerem quidem tanto reipublicae vulnere, mortem vero ejus non 
monumentis, sed luctu publico efse honorandam putarem. 
Nunc autem quis dubitat, quin ei vitam abstu'erit ipsa legatio? 
secum enim ille mortem extul.it; quara, si nobiscum remansis- 
set, sua cura, optimi filii, fideliisimoeque conjugis diligentia vi- 
tare potuifset. At ille, cum videret, si vestra? auctoritati non 
paruifset, difsimilem se futurum sui ; sin paruifset, munus sibi 
illud pro republica susceptum vita? finem fore; maluit in maxi- 
mo reipublicae discrimine emori, quam minus, quam potuifset, 
videri reipublicfe profuiise. Multis illi imurbibus, qua iter fa- 
c mt, reficiendi se et curandi potestas fuit: aderat hospitum 
tatio liberalis pro dignitate summi viri, et eorum hortatio, 
una erant mifsi, ad requiescendum, et vita? consulendum. 
die properans, festinans, mandata vestra conficere cupiens, 
iri hac constantia, morbo adversante, perseveravit. Cujus 
cum adventu maxime perturbatus eiset Antonius, quod ea, 
[ti t sibi jufsu vestro denunciarentur, auctoritate erant et sen- 
da Ser. Suipicii constituta; declaravit quam odifset senatum, 
cum auctorem senatus exstinctuin kete atque insolenter t'ulit, 
Non igitur magis Oc.fcavki.ra Leptines, nee Veientium rex eos, 
quos modo-nominavi, quam Ser. Suipicium occidit Antonius. Is 
enim profecto mortem attulit, qui causa mortis fuit. Quocirea 
ad posteritatis etiam memoriam pertinere arbitror, exstare, 






(2) Ut nepotem Antiochi regis, &c] This was Antiochns Eupator, grand- 
son of Antiochus, surnameci the Great. At the death of his father Antio- 
chus Epiphanes, he was only nine years old, and left under the guardian- 
ship of Lvsias. When the news of'Epiphanes's death came to Rome, the 
senate despatched Cn. Octavius and two others, to afsume the administra- 
tion of the government of "Syria; and to these they gave instructions to 
burn all the decked ships, disable the elephants, and, in a word, weaken, 
as much as pofsible the forces of the kingdom. Octavius, in his journey, 
pafsed through Cappadocia, where king Ariarathes offered him an army, to 
escort him into Syria, and to keep the people of that country in awe while 
he performed his commiision. But he, confiding in the majesty of the-xlo- 
man name, disdained all other protection. At Laodicea, he began to put 
the orders o\' the senate in execution ; burning the ships, and disabling the 
elephants. His pretence was the treaty made with Antiochus the Great, m 
which it had been stipulated, that the Syrians should cot have above a cgr- 



CICERO S ORATln 

picion of danger in it ; for l»< 

into the indentions of km 

bid the grandson of that Ahtiochus, who had >ur 

ancestors, to maintain Beets, or bring up ej< 

by one L<cptines, in the g\nm. 

then bestowed upon him by urn a: :a d 

lost ; which, for m va 

ants, and at present is the only monuaienl 

inory of that illustrious family. But u 

was poured forth in death, bu 

sake of the republic, that procured this honour to him, 

Tullus Cluvius, L. Hoscius, Sp. Aritiu , andC. FuJciniu 

were killed by the king of the Vebntcs. 

Sect. III. If therefor. ipt fathers, Serv, v 

lost his life by any accident, I should have l> >n - 

cerned indeed for the lofs my country had sustained ; and should 
have thought that his memory ought to be b 
monuments, but by public mourning. But 

any doubt that the em bat y killed him ? 1 ! 

along with him, which, had he staid at home. 

escaped by his own care, by the tendernefs >n, 

and most faithful wife. But when he saw, that if he did not 

obey your authority, he should be unliki td if he 

did obey, that the office he had undertaken I 

would put an end to his life ; lie chose, in 

the republic, rather to die, than seem to 

which he could pofsibly do. In many o jgh 

which he pafsed, he had opportunities of re 1 . 

himself. His hosts generously offered him • 

Mas suitable to the dignity of so great a man, and 

his colleagues in prefsing him to rest, and consult hiso 

but, in spite of his distemper, he pen 

of urging his journey, and hastening to pi 

of the senate'. His arrival greatly disco: 

cause what was declared to him b 

the authority and advice of Servius Sulpicius; 

how much he hated the senate, \ 

lent joy at the death of so illuv.r. 

then" was as truly killed by Antony, as 

tines; or those I have just now 

the Veientes : for he i 

cause, of his death. Foi 

leave to posterity some m 



taifi rwa-mberbtf ships of war, nor tann i 
M' proceeding hijj 
to be hired bv JU 



vol M. T. CICERONIS ORATIOKES. 

quod fuerit de hpc bello judicium seuatus; erit enim statua ipsa" 
testis, helium tarn grave fuifse, ut legati interitus honoris me- 
moriam consecutus sit. 

IV. Quod si excusationemSer. Sulpicii, P. C. legationis obe- 
undse recordari volueritis, nulla dubitatio relinquetur, quin ho- 
nore mortui, quam vivo injuriam fecimus, sarciamus. Vos 
enim, P. C. (grave dietu est, sed dicendum tamen,) vos, inquam, 
Ser. Sulpicium Vita privastis. Quern cum videretis re maois 
morbum, quam oratione excusantem, non vos quidem cmdeles 
fuistts (quid enim minus in hunc ordinem convenit;) sed cum 
speraretis nihil efse, quod non iilius auctontate et sapientia effici 
pofset, vehementius excusationi obstitistis ; atque eum, qui sem- 
p&r ve;>trum consensum gravifsimum judicavii'set, de sententia 
dejecistis. Ut.vero Pansse consulis accefsit cohortatio gravior 
quam aures Ser. Sulpicii ferre didicifsent, turn vero denique 
iiliurn, meque seduxit, atque ita locutus est, ut auctoritatem 
vestram vitaesuae se diceret anteferre ; cujusnosvirtutemadmirati 
non ausi sumus adversari voluntati: movebatur singulari pietate 
fiiius; non multum ejus perturbationi meus dolor concedebat; 
sed uterque nostrum cedere cogebatur. magnitudini animi, ora- 
tionisque gravitati ; cum quidem ille maxima laude et <jratula- 
tione omiapm vestrum pollicitus eat, se quod velletis efse fac- 
turum, neque ejus sentential periculum vitaturum, cujus ipse auc- 
torfuifset: quern exsequi mandata vestra properantem mane 
postridie prosecuti sumus; qui quidem discedens mecum ita lo- 
cutus est, ut ejus oratio omen fati videretur. 

V. Reddite igitur, P. C. ei vitam, cui ademistis ; vita enim 
mortuorum in memoria vivorum est posita : perficite ut is, quern 
vos inscii ad mortem misistis," immortalitatem habeat a vobis: 
cui statuam in rostris decreto vestro statueritis, nulla ejus lega- 
tioneni posteritatis obscurabit oblivio ; nam reliqua Ser. Sulpicii 
vita mukis erit prseclarisque raonumentis ad omnem memoriam 
comrnendata : semper iilius gravitatem, constantiam, fidem, 
praestantem in republica tuenda curam atque prudentiam, om- 
nium mortalium tama celebrabit. Nee vero silebitur adnrira- 
bilis qusedam et incrcdibilis, ( 3 ) ac pene divina ejus in legmus 
interpretandis, aequitate explicanda, scientia. Omnes ex omni 



(3) Ac pene divina ejus in legihus interpretandis scientia.'] The old 
lawyers teli a remarkable story of the origin of Sulpicius's fame and skill 
in the law : that going one day to consult Mucius Sesevola about some point, 
he war so dull in apprehending the meaning of Mucius's answer, that 
after explaining it to him twice or thrice, Mucius could not forbear saying, 
It is a shame for a ?wbleman and a patricia?i, and a pleader of causes, 



CICERO'S OR . , . 

senate concerning this war j and thi 

that it was so important a war, tl 
employed in it as an ambafsador ha 

Sect. IV. If you will but recollect, conscript 
Ser. Sulpicius endeavour* 

the embafsy, you must needs be convinced, tl: 

him when dead, is but a necelsarv amend 

to him when living-. For you, conscript I 

saying, but I must say it), you were the p 

Ser. Sulpicius of life. When you saw 

grounded not on a pretended, but on a real in 

were not indeed cruel, (tor nothing can be moi 

than this order;) but as you Mattered your 

nothing which his authority and wisdom couK! i 

over-ruled his excuse, and obliged him, who ah, 

your sentiments of the greatest weight, to yield to | 

strances. And when the consul Pansa joined 

with a gravity and force of speech which t: 

cius had not learnt to bear, he then took his son and in 

and profefsed that he could not help preferring vour authontv 

to his own life. We, through admiration of bis virtu. , 

not venture to oppose his will. His son was tend* 

nor was my concern much lefs ; yet both of us 

give way to the greatnefs of his mind, and the force of his I 

soning; when, to the great joy, and with the great appl 

you all, he promised that he would do whatever yon 

nor would decline the danger of that vote, of which lie him 

had been the proposer. Next mom at, 

eager to execute your orders: we accompanied him part of . 

way; and the words which he spoke to me at parting, seenn-d 

a presage of his fate. 

Sect. V. Restore life then, conscript fathers, to 

whom you have taken it away : lor the life of I 

in the memory of the living. Take care that ho, whom vou 

unwillingly sent to his death, r< in inrmoi 'in 

you. If you decree i 

brance of Ins cmbafsv will remain to all po 

other actions of Ser. Sulpiciu^ life will 

monuments to perpetuate their memo; tdi- 

nefs, honou- .ire, and pruden^ 

will bfe for < 

mirable, incredible, and almost divine skilj in h 

the laws, and explaining them according to t 

■ --— ^— -— — »-— 

to be ignorant of that law which he profefsrs to understand. The reproach 
stung him to the quick, and made him apply hun 



666 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

aetate, qui in hac civitate intelligentiam juris habuerunt, si unum 
in locum conferantur, cum Ser. Sulpicio non sunt comparandi. 
Neque enim ille magis juris consultus, quam justitise fuit. Ita 
ea, quae proficiscebantur a legibus, et a jure civili, semper ad 
facilitatem asquitatemque referebat; neque instituere litium ac- 
tiones malebat, quam controversias tollere. Ergo hoc statuae 
monumento non eget; habet?alict majora: haec enim statua mor- 
tis honestae testis erit ; ilia, memoria vitas gloriosae ; ut hoc mao-is 
monumentum grati senates, quam clari viri futurum sit. Mul- 
turn etiam valuifse ad patris honorem pietas filii videbitur; qui 
quanquam afflictus luctu non adest, tamen sic animati efse de- 
betis, ut si ille adefset: est autem ita afFectus, ut nemo unquam 
unici filii mortem magis doluerit, quam ille mceret patris. Et 
quidem etiam ad famam Ser. Sulpicii filii arbitror pertinere, ut 
videatur honorem debitum patri praestitifse ; quanquam nullum 
monumentum clarius Ser. Sulpicius relinquere potuit, quam 
effigiem nrorum suorum, virtutis, constantiae, pietatis, ingenii 
filium ; cujus luctus aut hoc honore vestro, aut nullo solatio le- 
vari potest. 

VI. Mihi autem recordanti Ser. Sulpicii multos in familiari- 
tate nostra sermones, gratior illi videtur, si quis est sensus in 
morte, aenea statua futura, et ea pedestris, quam inaurata eques- 
tris ; ( 4 ) qualis est L. Syllae prima statua : mirifice enim Ser. Sul- 
picius majorum continentiam diligebat; hujus seculi insolentiam 
vituperabat. Ut igitur si ipsum consulam quid velit, sic pedes- 
trem ex sere statuam, tanquam ex ejus auctoritate et vo- 
luntate decerno: quae quidem magnum civium dolorem et de- 
siderium honore monumenti minuet et leniet. Atque hanc 
meam sententiam, P. C. P. Servilii sententia comprobari necefse 
est, qui sepulcrum publice decernendum Ser. Sulpicio censuit, 
statuam non censuit. Nam si mors legati sine caede atque ferro 
nullum honorem desiderat, cur decernit honorem sepulture, 
qui maximus haberi potest mortuo? Sin id tribuit Ser. Sulpicio, 
quod non est datum Cn. Octavio; cur, quod illi datum est, huic 
dandum efse non censet? Majores quidem nostri statuas multis 



such industry, that he became the ablest lawyer in Rome, and left behind 
him near a hundred and eighty books, written by himself, on nice and dif- 
ficult questions of law. Digest. L. 1. Tit. 2. Parag. 43. 

(4) Qualis est L, SyUce.] Sylla had three statues erected to him in the 
rostra ; the first, according to" Pliny, was a pedestrian statue of brafs, the 
ether two equestrian. 



CICERO'S ORATIONS. 

equity, be buried in silence. Though all those who havt 
applied themselves to the study of the law in thi 
be brought together into one place, they would not 
be compared with Servius Sulpicius. Nor was be 
quainted with the principles ot universal equity, than t. 
with the laws of his country. Accordingly, merer} poiol n-- 
lating to the civil law and the ordinances of the- made 

equity the rule of his decisions; and was always better j- 
to put an amicable end to a controversy, than to direct ■ pro- 
cefs at law. These things, therefore, do not stand in need «>j a 
statue to perpetuate their memory ; there remain other morfl 
glorious monuments of them, which will bear testimony to the 
glory of his life: whereas the statue will only testify his honour- 
able death, and be rather a monument of the gratitude of the 
senate, than of the fame of the man. The piety of the son too 
will contribute not a little to the glory of the rather; who, 
though he is prevented by excefsive grief from being • 
yet ought you to be as favourably disposed as if he were. So 
great indeed is his concern, that no one ever grieved mon 
the death of an only son, than he docs for that of his rather. Jt 
likewise concerns the reputation of Servius Sulpicius the son, 
that he pay all due honours to his father; though Servius Sul- 
picius could leave no more illustrious monument behind him 
than a son, the image of his manners, of his virtue, steadinels, 
piety, and genius ; whose grief can be softened by your thus 
honouring his father, or he is utterly inconsolable. 

Sect. VI. When I recollect the many conversations which 
my intimacy -with Ser. Sulpicius gave me an opportunity of en- 
joying, I am persuaded, that if he is sensible of any thing 
death, a pedestrian statue in brafs, such as Sylla's fii I 
will be more agreeable to him than a gilt equestrian statue : lor 
Servius Sulpicius was a great admirer of the modesty of our an- 
cestors, and condemned the haughty extravagant 
sent times. As if I had consulted himself, therefore, upon what 
'would be mosti.gr"eablc to him, as the interpreter ox his p 
sure, I declare for a pedestrian statue of brafs ; which honour- 
able monument will alleviate and lefsen the sorrow 
citizens for his lol's. And what 1 say, conscript fathers, must 
needs be approved of by P. Servilius, who delivered it a 
nion,that a sepulchre ought publicly to he decreed 
cius; but not a statue. For if the death of an ambafsador with- 
out blood or violence requires no honours, why d 
the honour of a sepulchre, which may be reckoned fcb< 
that can be conferred on the dead ; ~ Uut it he gran! 
Ser. Sulpiciusjwhich was not granted toCn.t )r. 
refuse to the former what was granted to the latter 

U U 



66£ M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

decreverunt, sepulcra paucis : sed statuae intereunt tempestate 
vi, vetustate; sepulcrorum autem sanctitas in ipso solo est, quod 
nulla vi moveri neque deleri potest; atque ut caetera exstingu- 
nntur, sic sepulcra sanctiora fiunt vetustate. Augeatur igitur 
isto etiam honore is vir, cui nullus honor tribui non debitus po- 
test : grati simus in ejus morte decoranda, cui nullam jam aliam 
gratiam referre pofsunms : notetur etiam M, Antonii, nefarium 
bellum gerentis, scelerata audacia; his enim honoribus habitis 
Ser. Sulpicio, repudiates rejectseque legationis ab Antonio ma- 
il ebit testificatio sempiterna. 

VII. ( 5 ) Quas ob res ita censeo: ( 6 ) CUM Ser. Sujpicius 
Q. F. Lemonia, Rufus, difficillimo reipublica3 tempore gravi peri- 
culosoque morbo affectus, auctpritatem senatus salutemque po- 
puli Romani vitae suae praeposuerit, contraque vim gravitatemque 
morbicontenderit, ut in castra Antonii, quo senatus eum mise- 
rat, perveniret; isque cum jam prope castra venifset, vi morbi 
ppprefsus yitam amiserit in maximo reipublicae munere: ejusque 
l-uors consentanea vitae fuerit sanctifsime honestifsimeque actae, 
in qua saepe magno usui reipublicae Ser. Sulpicius et privatus et 
in magistratibus fuerit: cum talis vir ob rempublicam in lega- 
tione morbo obierit-; senatui placere, Ser. Sulpicio statuam pe~ 
destrem seneam in rostris ex hujus ordinis sententia statui, 
circumque earn statuam locum gladiatoribus ludisque liberos 
posterosque ejus quoquoversus pedes quinque habere, qu.pd is 
ob rempublicam mortem obierit, eamque causam in basi in- 
scribe utique C. Pansa, A. Hirtius consules, alter, ambove, si 
iis videbitur, quaestoribus urbanjs imperent, ut earn basim, sta- 
tuamque faciendam et in rostris statuendam locent ; quantique 
locaverint, tantam pecuniam redemptori attribuendam soiven- 
damque curent : cumque antea senatus auctoritatem suam in 
virorum fortium funeribus ornamentisque ostenderit ; placere, 
|3um quam amplifsime supremo die suo efferri: et cum- Ser. Sul- 
picius, -Q. F. Lemonia, Rufus, ita de republica meritus sit, ut his 
prnarnentis decorari debeat: senatum censere, atque e republica 



(5) Quas ob res ita censeo.'] What the majority of the Roman senate apr 
proved, was drawn up into a decree, which was generally conceived in 
words prepared and dictated by the first mover of the question, or the 
principal speaker in favour of it ; who, after he had spoken upon it, what 
he thought sufficient to recommend it to the senate, used to conclude his 
speech by summing up his opinion in the form of such a decree as he de- 
sired to obtain in consequence of it. Thus Cicero's orations against An- 
tony, which were spokep v at different times in the senate, on points of the 
greatest importance, generally conclude with the form of such a decree as 
pe was recommending on each particular occasion : quce cum ita sunt; or, 
huas cb res ita censeo. See Phil. 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14. 



cicero's orations. 

tors have granted statues to u, 

few. Statues perish by viol 

the sanctity ofsepulchr< 

lence can shake or ovei I 

things, renders them only I 

therefore, to whom no unnn can be paid, r< 

this additional honour likewise. Lei us sho 

tul, in honouring the death of the man on 

bestow no other mark of oui Let the ai. I 

M. Antony too, who is now an impious \ i 

country, be branded with infamy ; i 

memory of Ser. Sulpicius, will remain an eti 

Antony's having slighted and rejected our einbai 

Sect. VII. For which reason my opinion is, that, ' wb 
' Ser. Sulpicius Rufus, the son of Qnintus, of I 
' tribe, in a critical juncture of the state, when I 
' laboured under a dangerous indisposition, prefem 
' thority of the senate, and the welfare of the 
' own life ; and strove against the violence and ob 

* his distemper, to reach Antony's camp, whither t. 
' had sent him; and when he had almost got thill, 

' come by the violence of his indisposition, lost his life in the 
'discharge of the most weighty employment of the 
' and his death was such as became a life of the 

* tegrity and honour; during which Ser. Sulpi< 

''of great service to his country, both in a private and a public 

'capacity: whereas so great a man died, for tb 

' state, in the discharge of his embais\ . leased 

' to decree, that a pedestrian statue oi bn 

' to him in the rostra, with an area of five 

' it, for his children and posterity to BO 

' tors, and with this inscription on the ' 

' he died in the service of the republic 

the senate, that C. Pansa, and A. Hirtius, 

either, or both of them, it* they think pi 

to the city quaestors to agree for this I 

that it be erected in the rostra, anil to pa 

ever sum they agree for. And wl 

tofore displayed its dignity in the funerals o 

likewise decreed, that nis funeral-ofa 

the utmost magnificence. And whereas Ser. Sulpi< 

son of Quintus, of the Lcmoniau tribe, 



(6) Cum Ser. Sulpicius, 1. 
from a village of that name, near the Porta I 



670 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIONES. 

existimare, sediles curules edictum, quod de funeribus liabeant, 
Ser. Sulpicii, Q. F. Lemonia, Rufi, funeri mittere: utique lo- 
cum sepulcro in campo Esquilino C. Pansa consul, seu quo in 
loco videbitur, pedes triginta quoquoversus adsignet, quo Ser. 
Sulpicius inferatur ; quod sepulchrum, ipsius, liberorum, pos- 
terorumque ejus sit, uti quod optimo jure sepulcrum publice 
datum est. 



FINI r>, 



CICERO S ORA£l<< 0?| 

fcant services to his country, that he deserves all manner of 
iours, the senate decrees, and thinks it for the honour of the 
e, that the curule avdilcs expend upon the fane ulpi- 

a, what is appointed by the edi tins to public Fiioerab; 

I that the consul C. Pansa assign luin a place ol | the 

(luiline field, or any other place that shall be thought proper, 
h an area of thirty feet every wav, to be granted publicly, 

cording to the forms of law, as a sepulchre for him, Uis chil- 
B, and posterity. 



THEE N D. 



Printed at the Office of 
T. WILSON and R. SPENCE, 
High-Oufrgate, York. - 



